Wall Street Zen Upgrades Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) to "Strong-Buy"

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Deluxe Stock Down 1.1%

DLX traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.11. 381,753 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,995. Deluxe has a fifty-two week low of $13.61 and a fifty-two week high of $24.87. The stock has a market cap of $631.28 million, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50 day moving average is $15.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.43 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deluxe will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deluxe

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Deluxe by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,260,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $118,836,000 after buying an additional 64,060 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Deluxe by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 148,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 62,715 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Deluxe by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 766,490 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,315,000 after purchasing an additional 49,104 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 214,690 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,850,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Deluxe by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,188 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.