Deluxe Corporation $DLX Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Deluxe Corporation by 1.9%, having sold 101,724 shares, now holding 5,158,828 shares worth approximately $81.56 million.
• Deluxe's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.88, beating analysts' expectations, although revenue fell 3.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 6.0% and a payout ratio of 93.02%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,158,828 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 101,724 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.54% of Deluxe worth $81,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DLX. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,658 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,351,000 after purchasing an additional 177,534 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,848,739 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,229,000 after purchasing an additional 30,608 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 503,321 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,370,000 after purchasing an additional 34,659 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 418,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,457,000 after purchasing an additional 11,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deluxe by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 220,472 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,486,000 after purchasing an additional 5,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Deluxe Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Deluxe stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 120,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,602. Deluxe Corporation has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $24.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.18 and a 200 day moving average of $16.14. The company has a market capitalization of $871.12 million, a PE ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

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

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Deluxe's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.