Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Deluxe Stock Performance

Shares of Deluxe stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.66. 505,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 360,145. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.94. Deluxe has a 12 month low of $13.61 and a 12 month high of $24.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.09 and its 200 day moving average is $17.24. The stock has a market cap of $927.46 million, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.47.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Deluxe had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.12%. The firm had revenue of $454.49 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deluxe will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Deluxe in the 1st quarter worth about $5,281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 99.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 543,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,645,000 after purchasing an additional 271,225 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in Deluxe by 49.9% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 634,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,094,000 after purchasing an additional 211,109 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Deluxe by 18.3% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 736,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,721,000 after purchasing an additional 113,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiker Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Deluxe in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,707,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.