Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $470,000 Investment in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.05% of Deluxe as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in Deluxe by 20.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 35,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,002,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,502,000 after purchasing an additional 51,546 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Deluxe during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,655,000. EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Deluxe by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 4,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Deluxe by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 23,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 6,472 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Deluxe stock opened at $20.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.67 and a 200-day moving average of $19.40. The stock has a market cap of $891.47 million, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.48. Deluxe Co. has a 52 week low of $13.61 and a 52 week high of $21.97.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $537.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.80 million. Deluxe had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 21.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is currently 203.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 2,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.25 per share, for a total transaction of $51,320.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 173,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,338,142.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.