Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on DLX. Wall Street Zen raised Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. CJS Securities upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deluxe in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Deluxe Price Performance

Deluxe stock opened at $27.34 on Monday. Deluxe has a 1 year low of $13.61 and a 1 year high of $28.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.29. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.41.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $535.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.40 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 22.62%. Deluxe’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Deluxe has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Deluxe will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 736,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,721,000 after buying an additional 113,886 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Deluxe in the third quarter valued at $512,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Deluxe during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,577,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Deluxe during the 2nd quarter valued at $326,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Deluxe by 2,242.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 19,193 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.