Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Buys $53,805.60 in Stock

Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 2,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $53,805.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,409,023.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DLX traded up $0.52 on Thursday, hitting $19.45. 107,466 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 228,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.03. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $16.00 and a one year high of $24.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $856.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.47.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $537.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.90 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 20.90% and a net margin of 1.78%. Deluxe’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Deluxe Co. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deluxe

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DLX. Ariadne Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Deluxe by 10.9% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 122,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after acquiring an additional 11,985 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 249.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 169,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,806,000 after purchasing an additional 121,042 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in Deluxe by 3.4% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,907,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,842,000 after buying an additional 62,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deluxe by 4.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 259,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,820,000 after acquiring an additional 11,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.