Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

DLX has been the subject of several other reports. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Deluxe in a report on Friday, April 19th. They set a buy rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Deluxe from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th.

Deluxe Price Performance

NYSE:DLX opened at $19.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $847.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.27 and a 200-day moving average of $21.06. Deluxe has a 52 week low of $16.00 and a 52 week high of $24.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.29. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 20.90%. The firm had revenue of $537.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deluxe will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is 155.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 2,440 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.63 per share, for a total transaction of $52,777.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,803,635.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 3,098 shares of company stock worth $67,798 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,167,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $106,406,000 after purchasing an additional 171,998 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Deluxe by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,750,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,548,000 after acquiring an additional 130,357 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth $1,152,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the 1st quarter valued at $995,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,090,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,047,000 after purchasing an additional 48,067 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently 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.