Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Stock Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 408,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 103,989 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $9,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Deluxe by 10.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 115,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,247,000 after buying an additional 10,447 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 148,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 62,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Deluxe by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,041,000 after purchasing an additional 17,583 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Deluxe by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Deluxe in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,017,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Sidoti raised shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Transactions at Deluxe

In other news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy acquired 3,926 shares of Deluxe stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This trade represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Stock Down 1.7 %

DLX stock opened at $14.93 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $667.62 million, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Deluxe Co. has a twelve month low of $14.20 and a twelve month high of $24.87.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.05). Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

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.