Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) Shares Purchased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,193 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $3,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Deluxe by 93.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Deluxe in the third quarter valued at $36,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Deluxe by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management boosted its stake in Deluxe by 231.9% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 5,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 3,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Deluxe by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DLX opened at $15.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $686.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.41. Deluxe Co. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $24.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.58. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.81%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy bought 3,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 272,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,488,398.95. This represents a 1.46 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

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.