StockNews.com Downgrades Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe Price Performance

DLX opened at $15.87 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.28. The firm has a market capitalization 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 52 week low of $15.13 and a 52 week high of $24.87. 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 (NYSE:DLX) last released 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 net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Deluxe will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DLX. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Deluxe in the 4th quarter valued at $220,326,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Deluxe by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,351,000 after purchasing an additional 177,534 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,210,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 596,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,486,000 after purchasing an additional 118,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth about $2,565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.