Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Deluxe from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Barrington Research started coverage on Deluxe in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

View Our Latest Report on DLX

Deluxe Stock Performance

DLX stock opened at $22.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. Deluxe has a fifty-two week low of $17.76 and a fifty-two week high of $32.07.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Deluxe had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $499.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $486.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Deluxe’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Deluxe will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deluxe

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,753,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,823,000 after acquiring an additional 101,105 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,739,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 442,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,175,000 after acquiring an additional 195,749 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 367,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,115,000 after acquiring an additional 240,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 332,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,169,000 after acquiring an additional 55,429 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

About Deluxe

(Get Free Report)

Deluxe Corporation is a provider of payments, marketing and business technology solutions serving small businesses, financial institutions and consumers. The company’s offerings include checks and related forms, business supplies, promotional products, website and digital marketing services, customer relationship management tools, data-driven marketing solutions and payment processing services.

Deluxe also provides receivables management, fraud prevention and other financial technology services designed to help businesses and financial institutions manage transactions and customer relationships.

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