Deluxe Corp (DLX) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Deluxe's P/E of 15.4 is above its own 5-year median of 15.2.

P/E below the industry

Deluxe's P/E of 15.4 is below the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 17.7.

EV/EBITDA above its 5-year median

Deluxe's EV/EBITDA of 8.2 is above its 5-year median of 7.0.

P/S above the industry

Deluxe's price-to-sales of 0.57 is above the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 0.57 (book value is negative, so we use sales).

Trading below fair value

The share price of $26.54 is below our fair value estimate of $27.46.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 3.3% below fair value, less than the 20% cushion we look for.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew -1.6% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 6.3% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew -3.4% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 73.4% a year.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 0.4% over the last twelve months; the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median is 1.1%.

Guidance raised

Deluxe raised its full year 2026 Revenue outlook on Aug 5, 2026.

Gross margin slipping

Gross margin was 52.0% over the last twelve months, against 53.0% a year earlier.

Return on equity

Needs positive equity and five years of results.

Return on invested capital

Needs operating income and invested capital.

Return on equity against the industry

Needs positive equity.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 73.4% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin above its 5-year average

Net margin was 3.8% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 2.7%.

Net margin above the industry

Deluxe's net margin of 3.8% is above the Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries median of 3.6%.

Debt level

Needs debt and equity figures.

Debt trend

Needs a balance sheet from five years ago with positive equity.

Debt not well covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 15.9% of total debt; we look for at least 20%.

Interest not well covered

Operating income covers interest expense 1.9 times; we look for at least 5.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 1.07 times current liabilities.

Elevated bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is 1.40; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Deluxe paid dividends worth 4.5% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield above Treasuries

The 4.5% yield is above the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield in the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Deluxe yields 4.5%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 70.8% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 26.4% of free cash flow.