Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Purchased by Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Deluxe in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Deluxe by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Deluxe by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 231.9% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 5,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,785 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deluxe Trading Down 1.9 %

DLX opened at $17.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.92. Deluxe Co. has a 1-year low of $17.01 and a 1-year high of $24.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 2,290 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.57 per share, with a total value of $53,975.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,960 shares in the company, valued at $4,265,227.20. This represents a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DLX. Sidoti raised Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Deluxe Profile

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.