Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Makes New Investment in Deluxe Corporation $DLX

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Deluxe in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Deluxe by 1,067.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Security National Bank raised its holdings in Deluxe by 97.8% in the 1st quarter. Security National Bank now owns 3,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Deluxe by 105.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Performance

NYSE DLX opened at $18.95 on Thursday. Deluxe Corporation has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $24.45. The stock has a market cap of $850.39 million, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 2.75%.The company had revenue of $521.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Deluxe Corporation will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Deluxe Company 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.