American Century Companies Inc. Has $25.49 Million Stock Holdings in Deluxe Corporation $DLX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Deluxe Corporation by 4.0% in the first quarter, now owning approximately 1.61 million shares worth $25.49 million.
• Deluxe Corporation reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.88, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.17, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 3.1%.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share has been announced, representing an annual yield of 6.0% with a payout ratio of 93.02%.

American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in shares of Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,612,399 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 67,732 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 3.60% of Deluxe worth $25,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Deluxe by 1,067.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank raised its stake in Deluxe by 97.8% in the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 3,567 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Deluxe by 11.2% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,874 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Burney Co. bought a new stake in Deluxe in the first quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC bought a new stake in Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DLX. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Deluxe in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Securities lowered their target price on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Deluxe from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Deluxe Price Performance

Deluxe stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.77. 107,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 379,640. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.12. Deluxe Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.61 and a 12 month high of $24.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $887.15 million, a PE ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.17. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 2.75%.The firm had revenue of $521.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Deluxe Corporation will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Deluxe's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.02%.

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.