Comerica Bank Increases Position in Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX)

Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Deluxe Co. (NYSE:DLX) by 70.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,019 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 93.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Deluxe by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Deluxe by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 87,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Deluxe by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 20,279 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DLX. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Deluxe from $33.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Sidoti raised Deluxe to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Barry C. Mccarthy purchased 3,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $64,582.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Deluxe Price Performance

Deluxe stock opened at $16.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.38 and a 200-day moving average of $19.29. Deluxe Co. has a 52-week low of $13.70 and a 52-week high of $24.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $723.89 million, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Deluxe had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 2.49%. The firm had revenue of $536.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Deluxe Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Deluxe’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

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.