Intech Investment Management LLC Has $2.72 Million Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 79.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 120,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,395 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $2,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Deluxe by 93.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Deluxe in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 57.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 63.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DLX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 15th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Trading Up 2.3 %

DLX opened at $16.26 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $727.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.46. Deluxe Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.13 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

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.