50% off Premium Yearly
PaychexPAYXTOP PICKMar 13, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.
Focus is on small and medium businesses, so investors are concerned about even small upticks in unemployment. Good, steady company. Attracts a premium valuation. Don't have to worry about AI so much right now; AI can assist (rather than replace) its work, and provide more data. The debate now is about whether the economy grows or shrinks.
Is a domestic US company, so it faces no tariff risk. Is Trump cuts taxes 15%, this adds 20% to growing earnings for PAYX. Margins have been growing, and they just bought a company that will accrete to earnings (they report tomorrow). Trades at a high 28x PE, but the dividend grows 10% annually. Has owned this 30 years.
Recent earnings were up 4%. Veritable cash cow because they bank all the payroll taxes (that customers submit to the IRS) at current interest rates. It's like free money on top of earnings. Revenue growth was double GDP. Entirely domestic, so protected from trade barriers.
Services small companies, so if the economy does well from tax cuts, this name should continue to grow. Long-term, compounding annual returns of 14-15% -- you double your money roughly every 4-5 years. A buy and hold, not a trade.
A payroll provider. ADP (ADP-Q) is the big one that deals with governments and large institutions, while this one deals with small businesses. If you are going to get any growth in the US through fiscal policy, the growth will come from small businesses of 15 to 50 employees. This does payroll and HR. What he really likes is that before they remit payments to the IRS every 2 weeks on payroll, they get to bank the money. For every .025% interest rate rise, they make $.01 a share to the bottom line, so if the Fed has 6 increases over the next 2 years, they are going to make $18 million. Dividend yield of 2.9%. (Analysts’ price target is $59.50.)