Bailard Inc. Has $278,000 Stock Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Bailard Inc. cut its stake in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 63.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,626 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Round Hill Asset Management raised its position in Deluxe by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 50,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Deluxe by 57.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of DLX stock opened at $15.60 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.66 and a 200-day moving average of $20.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $693.12 million, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.52. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $15.13 and a one year high of $24.87.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is 101.69%.

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.