Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Barrington Research

Barrington Research upgraded shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Deluxe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of DLX stock opened at $23.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.35. 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 52 week low of $17.76 and a 52 week high of $32.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.25.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Deluxe had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 4.91%.The business had revenue of $499.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $486.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Deluxe will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Trading of Deluxe

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Deluxe in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,739,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Deluxe by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,753,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,823,000 after buying an additional 101,105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Deluxe by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 332,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,169,000 after buying an additional 55,429 shares during the last quarter. Towle & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the 1st quarter worth $7,963,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the first quarter valued at about $1,411,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deluxe Company Profile

Deluxe Corporation (NYSE: DLX) is a provider of business services and financial technology solutions for small businesses, financial institutions, consumers and nonprofit organizations. The company is best known for producing personalized checks and business forms, but has expanded its offerings to include marketing, payments and data-driven business services.

Deluxe’s products and services include printed checks and forms, promotional products, logo and website design, email and social media marketing, search engine optimization, and other solutions intended to help businesses attract and retain customers.