Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe Stock Performance

DLX opened at $15.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $709.70 million, a PE ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. Deluxe has a 1 year low of $15.13 and a 1 year high of $24.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Deluxe will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.56%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is 101.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 3,926 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deluxe

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,565,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Deluxe by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 52,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 25,961 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 100,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 13,683 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 15,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth $301,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deluxe Company 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.