Prudential Financial Inc. Raises Stock Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,300 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 1.35% of Deluxe worth $13,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 4.9% in 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 buying an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 87,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Deluxe by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Deluxe by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deluxe news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction 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 $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Up 2.8 %

DLX opened at $16.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $734.03 million, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.30. Deluxe Co. has a 52 week low of $15.13 and a 52 week high of $24.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DLX. StockNews.com cut shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe 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.