Paychex (PAYX) to Release Earnings on Tuesday

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Tuesday, October 1st. Analysts expect Paychex to post earnings of $1.14 per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Paychex to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $132.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $106.27 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $128.96 and a 200 day moving average of $124.23.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.62.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.