Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $21.97 and last traded at $21.57, with a volume of 580837 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.89.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 155.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Deluxe in a research note on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company.

Deluxe Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.45. The company has a market capitalization of $943.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.48.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.05. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 21.35%. The company had revenue of $537.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 2,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.25 per share, with a total value of $51,320.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 173,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,338,142.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. CWM LLC increased its stake in Deluxe by 314.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Deluxe by 157.7% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 32,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 20,026 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 4.4% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 75,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 3,196 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 893.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 53.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.