Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Acquires $64,582.70 in Stock

Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Deluxe Trading Down 2.5 %

Deluxe stock opened at $15.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $704.10 million, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. Deluxe Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.13 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. Equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. Deluxe’s payout ratio is 101.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deluxe

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Deluxe by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Deluxe during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Deluxe during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Deluxe by 57.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Deluxe by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DLX. Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

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.