Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Acquires $64,582.70 in Stock

Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Deluxe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DLX traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $16.60. 232,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 252,460. The company has a market cap of $737.55 million, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.98. Deluxe Co. has a twelve month low of $15.13 and a twelve month high of $24.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.70.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. As a group, analysts forecast that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Round Hill Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 1.0% during the third quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 50,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Deluxe by 93.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Deluxe by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 860 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Deluxe by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 87,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on DLX. Sidoti raised Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation provides technology-enabled solutions to enterprises, small businesses, and financial institutions in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It operates through Merchant Services, B2B Payments, Data Solutions, and Print segments. The Merchant Services offers credit and debit card authorization and payment systems, as well as processing services primarily to small and medium-sized retail and service businesses.