Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Deluxe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barrington Research began coverage on shares of Deluxe in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Deluxe Trading Up 0.3%

DLX opened at $22.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Deluxe has a one year low of $17.76 and a one year high of $32.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.24.

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. Analysts predict that Deluxe will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deluxe

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Deluxe in the second quarter valued at $14,739,000. Towle & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 1st quarter worth $7,963,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 367,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,115,000 after purchasing an additional 240,359 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 195,749 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Deluxe by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,753,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $75,823,000 after buying an additional 101,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation (NYSE: DLX) is a business services company that provides products and technology-enabled solutions to small businesses, financial institutions, and consumers. The company is best known historically for producing personal and business checks, deposit products, forms, and related printed materials.

Deluxe has expanded beyond print products into marketing and business technology services. Its offerings include website development and hosting, logo design, search engine optimization, email and social media marketing, promotional products, data-driven marketing, payment processing, and fraud prevention solutions.