Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $23.90, but opened at $26.88. Deluxe shares last traded at $26.6890, with a volume of 616,902 shares traded.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, CJS Securities upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deluxe has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Deluxe Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.32 and a 200-day moving average of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $540.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.50 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 22.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Deluxe has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.450-3.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deluxe Corporation will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,955,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,661,000 after buying an additional 35,030 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Deluxe by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 5,130 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Deluxe by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 2,080,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,464,000 after purchasing an additional 8,823 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.