Voya Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX - Free Report) by 142.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,224 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,275 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Deluxe worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Deluxe by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Deluxe during the fourth quarter worth $392,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Deluxe by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,624 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Deluxe by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,361,658 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $53,351,000 after acquiring an additional 177,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Deluxe by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 62,829 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Deluxe Trading Up 0.1 %

DLX stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.76. 244,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,433. The firm has a market capitalization of $704.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49. Deluxe Co. has a 52-week low of $13.70 and a 52-week high of $24.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.37 and a 200-day moving average of $19.32. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.03. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. The company had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Deluxe's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Deluxe Co. 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 Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.61%. Deluxe's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DLX has been the topic of several research reports. TD Securities reduced their target price on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Deluxe from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 272,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Deluxe Company Profile

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.