Topic: Growth Stocks

Cloud computing helps this stock do more than pay the cheques

A Member of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle recently asked for his recommendation on a stock that ensures that millions of Americans go home with money in their pockets.

Well-known for its payroll services, Paychex has added to its human resource services for U.S. businesses over the years. Its constructive use of cloud computing is a plus for the company, says Pat, and it also benefits from a high retention rate among its clients.

Q: Pat: Can I have your recommendation on Paychex Inc. on Nasdaq. Thanks.


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A: PAYCHEX INC. (symbol PAYX on Nasdaq; www.paychex.com) provides a range of human resources and payroll services, including accounting, salary deposits and automatic tax payment and filing.

The company’s 605,000 clients are mostly small and medium-sized businesses (10 to 200 employees) throughout the U.S. and in Germany. It, in fact, processes paycheques for one out of every 12 American private-sector employees.

Paychex gets 56% of its revenue from payroll services. The remaining 44% comes from several service areas: human resources outsourcing; employee benefits solutions, including managing health insurance programs and pension plans; and accounting and payment-processing services.

Revenue rose 41.2% from $2.23 billion in 2011 to $3.15 billion in 2016. Over that same period, Paychex improved its earnings 49.1%, from $548.0 million, or $1.51 a share, in 2011 to $817.3 million in 2016, or $2.25 a share.

In the three months ended November 30, 2017, revenue rose 7.1%, to $826.5 million from $771.4 million a year earlier. Earnings, excluding one-time items, gained 6.6%, to $214.4 million, or $2.25 a share, from $201.2 million, or $2.09. Earnings per share rose 5.4%, to $0.59 from $0.56, on more shares outstanding.

Paychex holds cash of $257.2 million, or $0.72 a share, and has no long-term debt.

Growth stocks: Over 110,000 clients have been with Paychex over a decade

In 2017, the company continued to invest heavily in its Paychex Flex Platform, a cloud-based human capital management system; it integrates HR services from recruitment and hiring to payroll, health benefits and retirement. With this system, the company is targeting two major challenges facing small and mid-size businesses: complex government regulations and employee retention. The Paychex Flex Platform enables these businesses to stay compliant and to offer benefits such as retirement plans and health insurance, all through one integrated platform.

Customer retention for Paychex is a high 81% of its client base. Over 110,000 of its clients have been with the company for over a decade. Recurring revenue from these contracts cuts its risk.

Paychex is forecast to earn $2.75 a share in 2018. The stock trades at 23.3 times that estimate.  With the August 2017 payment, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 8.7%, to $0.50 from $0.46. The shares now yield 3.1%.

Paychex continues to attract investors because of its connection with cloud computing. That use of the Internet to access data files stored on remote servers is widely recognized as a substantial growth area. Paychex should continue to benefit as businesses look to boost their profits by cutting costs and focusing on their core operations.

Inner Circle recommendation: Paychex is okay to hold.

For our recent report on a Canadian stock with an international niche, read, Even NAFTA may not slow this Canadian growth stock.

For our views on an investment that is getting plenty of publicity these days, read Canada’s new marijuana laws don’t make Canadian marijuana stocks a buy.

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