Paychex (PAYX) Projected to Post Earnings on Wednesday

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) is expected to release its earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, March 26th. Analysts expect Paychex to post earnings of $1.48 per share and revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Paychex to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $143.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PAYX. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Paychex stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.