Invesco Ltd. Purchases 49,104 Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 766,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 49,104 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $17,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 4th quarter valued at about $993,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Deluxe by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 81,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 15,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the fourth quarter worth about $396,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the fourth quarter worth about $889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 3,926 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Deluxe stock opened at $14.54 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $650.14 million, a PE ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.41. Deluxe Co. has a twelve month low of $13.70 and a twelve month high of $24.87.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.25%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

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.