Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Separately, Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE DLX opened at $16.03 on Friday. Deluxe has a 12 month low of $15.13 and a 12 month high of $24.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.52. The stock has a market cap of $716.59 million, a PE ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

Insider Activity at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.