Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Deluxe Corporation $DLX

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.19% of Deluxe worth $1,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe in the 1st quarter valued at $1,126,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 91,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 17,851 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,848,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,229,000 after purchasing an additional 30,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe in the 1st quarter valued at $164,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deluxe Stock Performance

NYSE:DLX opened at $19.8970 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $892.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.09. Deluxe Corporation has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $24.45.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $526.93 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous 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 company 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 $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. Deluxe’s payout ratio is currently 93.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Deluxe in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deluxe presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.