Paychex Inc. (PAYX)
Technology · NASDAQ · US
Fundamentals
Valuation and ratings
Paychex Inc. trades at $114.70, which is 64% below the $188.26 our discounted cash flow model puts on the business. On that measure alone it screens as undervalued, though a DCF is an argument rather than a measurement, and the market is frequently right about why something is cheap.
Our moat model scores it 68 out of 100, which is a moat, but not a deep one. A moat is a structural reason competitors cannot take the profits away, and it matters more to a long holding period than any single quarter's numbers do.
It changes hands at 22.0 times earnings. Be careful reading that in isolation: for a cyclical business a low P/E arrives at the top of the cycle, when profits are peaking and about to fall, which is exactly when the shares look cheapest and are not.
About Paychex Inc.
Paychex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, employee 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. The company provides retirement solutions, such as plan implementation, ongoing compliance with government regulations, employee and employer reporting, participant and employer online access, electronic funds transfer, and other administrative services; HCM solutions from recruiting and hiring to retirement; and talent management and talent acquisition services. In addition, it offers payroll solutions, including calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks; production of internal accounting records and management reports; preparation of federal, state, and local payroll tax returns; and collection and remittance of clients' payroll obligations. Further, the company provides workforce management solutions; benefits administration solutions; digital marketplace for earned wages, financial wellness solutions, and voluntary lifestyle benefits; HR support to non-payroll clients through HR Partner Plus solution; and insurance services for property and casualty coverage, such as workers' compensation, business-owner policies, cyber security protection, and commercial auto, as well as health and benefits coverage, including health, dental, vision, and life. Additionally, it offers payroll, employer compliance, HR and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and both virtual and on-site availability of a professionally trained HR representative, and other solutions to businesses. It markets and sells its services primarily through its direct sales force. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.
PAYX passes 6 of our 30 screens today
Each screen prints the exact criteria it used, and the circumstances in which it is wrong.
Common questions
Is Paychex Inc. (PAYX) undervalued?
Against our discounted cash flow estimate of $188.26, PAYX at $114.70 is 64% below fair value. That is one model's answer, not a recommendation, and most of a DCF's output sits in a terminal value nobody can forecast.
What is PAYX's P/E ratio?
PAYX trades at 22.0 times earnings. A low P/E is not automatically cheap: on a cyclical company it is usually a warning that earnings are at a peak.
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Data from company filings, exchange quotes and SEC EDGAR 13F disclosures. Quotes are delayed. Metrics we do not have are left out rather than estimated. Educational information, not financial advice.