Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Shares Gap Up to $18.95

Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $18.95, but opened at $19.65. Deluxe shares last traded at $19.49, with a volume of 26,276 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Deluxe in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company.

Deluxe Stock Up 4.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.68 and a 200-day moving average of $19.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.80 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.53% and a net margin of 1.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. 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 bought 2,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.25 per share, with a total value of $51,320.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,338,142.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deluxe

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 35,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 6,102 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Deluxe by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,002,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,502,000 after purchasing an additional 51,546 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Deluxe during the third quarter worth approximately $1,655,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in Deluxe by 63.2% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 4,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Deluxe by 37.1% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 23,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Company Profile

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.