Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Short Interest Update

Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,340,000 shares, a decrease of 6.8% from the November 15th total of 2,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 229,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deluxe

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 2,290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.57 per share, for a total transaction of $53,975.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,265,227.20. The trade was a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 4.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deluxe

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Deluxe by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,040,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,824,000 after acquiring an additional 123,361 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Deluxe by 249.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 169,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,806,000 after purchasing an additional 121,042 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in Deluxe during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,490,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Deluxe during the third quarter worth $1,303,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Deluxe by 73.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 148,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 62,715 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Deluxe Price Performance

Shares of DLX opened at $23.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.52. Deluxe has a 52-week low of $18.48 and a 52-week high of $24.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Deluxe’s payout ratio is presently 96.77%.

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.