Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Research Coverage Started at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $27.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Deluxe Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of Deluxe stock opened at $19.71 on Friday. Deluxe has a fifty-two week low of $13.61 and a fifty-two week high of $21.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The firm has a market cap of $864.28 million, a PE ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.05. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.53% and a net margin of 1.20%. The firm had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Deluxe will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 2,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.25 per share, for a total transaction of $51,320.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,338,142.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deluxe in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Deluxe by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Deluxe by 243.7% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 93,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 66,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Deluxe by 141.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 50,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.