Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

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

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

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of DLX opened at $25.00 on Friday. Deluxe has a 1 year low of $17.76 and a 1 year high of $32.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.24.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Deluxe had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 4.91%.The company had revenue of $499.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is presently 53.33%.

Institutional Trading of Deluxe

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 25.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 505,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,996,000 after buying an additional 102,948 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Deluxe by 10.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,302,000 after acquiring an additional 24,660 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Deluxe by 4.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Deluxe by 9.9% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 10,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Deluxe during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.