Deluxe Corporation $DLX Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,390,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 222,136 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Deluxe were worth $22,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deluxe during the first quarter valued at $5,281,000. Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Deluxe during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,707,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Deluxe by 25.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 505,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,996,000 after purchasing an additional 102,948 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Deluxe in the second quarter valued at about $1,577,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in shares of Deluxe by 245.0% in the second quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 100,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 71,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DLX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deluxe from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deluxe in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deluxe currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Deluxe Price Performance

NYSE:DLX opened at $19.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.78. Deluxe Corporation has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $24.30. The firm has a market cap of $897.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.47.

Deluxe (NYSE:DLX) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Deluxe Corporation will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Deluxe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. Deluxe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

Deluxe 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.