Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Holdings in Deluxe Corporation $DLX

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in shares of Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,011 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 1,067.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank lifted its position in Deluxe by 97.8% in the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 3,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the first quarter valued at approximately $164,000. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Performance

NYSE:DLX opened at $19.13 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Deluxe Corporation has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $24.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $858.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $521.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.93 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 2.75%.The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deluxe Corporation will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DLX shares. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deluxe currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

About Deluxe

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.