Northern Trust Corp Raises Holdings in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 503,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,659 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.14% of Deluxe worth $11,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 142.3% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 21,275 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Deluxe in the 4th quarter worth approximately $392,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Deluxe by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deluxe Stock Down 0.2%

DLX stock opened at $15.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $714.05 million, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.98. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $24.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.22.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $525.43 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. Deluxe’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.52%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In other Deluxe news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. The trade was a 1.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Deluxe 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.