Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Deluxe Stock Performance

DLX opened at $22.56 on Friday. Deluxe has a 1-year low of $17.76 and a 1-year high of $32.07. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.32.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $486.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Deluxe will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Deluxe by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,753,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $75,823,000 after purchasing an additional 101,105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Deluxe during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,739,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Deluxe by 189.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 367,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,115,000 after buying an additional 240,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Deluxe by 20.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 332,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,169,000 after purchasing an additional 55,429 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deluxe Company Profile

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.