Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on DLX. Weiss Ratings lowered Deluxe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of DLX stock opened at $24.45 on Friday. Deluxe has a one year low of $17.76 and a one year high of $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.24.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. Deluxe had a net margin of 4.91% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The company had revenue of $499.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Deluxe’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deluxe will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is 53.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deluxe

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Deluxe by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 505,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,996,000 after acquiring an additional 102,948 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Deluxe by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 24,660 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Deluxe by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Deluxe by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 110,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 10,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Deluxe in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

About Deluxe

Deluxe Corporation, founded in 1915 and headquartered in Shoreview, Minnesota, is a provider of integrated business and financial technology solutions. Originally established as a check printing company, Deluxe has evolved its offerings to support small businesses, financial institutions and entrepreneurs with a comprehensive suite of services spanning print, digital and software platforms.

The company’s core business activities include printing checks, forms and promotional materials, as well as delivering digital marketing and customer engagement solutions.