Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Acquired by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its holdings in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 171.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 56,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,456 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Deluxe by 93.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Deluxe by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 87,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Deluxe by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased 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 worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.45 per share, with a total value of $64,582.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sidoti upgraded Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Deluxe Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of DLX opened at $15.87 on Friday. Deluxe Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.13 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The company has a market capitalization of $709.70 million, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.28. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 21.33%. As a group, analysts forecast that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.56%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

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.