Royal Bank of Canada Has $13.50 Million Stock Position in Deluxe Corporation $DLX

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in shares of Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 490,162 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 136,848 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 1.07% of Deluxe worth $13,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Deluxe by 79.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 442,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,175,000 after buying an additional 195,749 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 44.1% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 19,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Deluxe by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 34,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deluxe by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 164,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,536,000 after acquiring an additional 20,573 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deluxe in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,411,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DLX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research cut shares of Deluxe from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Deluxe from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Deluxe presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Deluxe Stock Down 4.2%

DLX stock opened at $25.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.24. Deluxe Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.76 and a fifty-two week high of $32.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.57 and a 200-day moving average of $26.10.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $499.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.30 million. Deluxe had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 4.91%.Deluxe’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deluxe Corporation will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deluxe Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.33%.

Deluxe Profile

Deluxe Corporation, founded in 1915 and headquartered in Shoreview, Minnesota, is a provider of integrated business and financial technology solutions. Originally established as a check printing company, Deluxe has evolved its offerings to support small businesses, financial institutions and entrepreneurs with a comprehensive suite of services spanning print, digital and software platforms.

The company’s core business activities include printing checks, forms and promotional materials, as well as delivering digital marketing and customer engagement solutions.