Paychex, Inc. (PAYX Quick QuotePAYX - Free Report) is being aided by solid liquidity and shareholder-friendly steps.

Paychex puts consistent efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. The company paid dividends of $1.17 billion, $999.6 million and $908.7 million in fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 respectively. It repurchased shares worth $145.2 million, $155.7 million and $171.9, respectively, in fiscal 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Along with instilling investors’ confidence, such initiatives positively impact earnings per share. This might have aided share price which rose 4.5% in the past year-to-date period.

Paychex’s current ratio (a measure of liquidity) stood at 1.30 at fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 end, higher than 1.25 at the end of the prior-year quarter. A current ratio of more than 1 implies that the company have enough liquid assets to cover its short-term liabilities.

The stock has gained 10.6% in the past six-month period compared with 14.9% growth of the industry it belongs to.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Revenue Expectation

Driven by the above tailwinds, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 revenues indicate an increase of 8.4% year over year to $5.34 billion.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Paychex currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the Zacks Business Services sector can consider the following stocks:

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP Quick QuoteADP - Free Report) :  ADP currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

ADP has an impressive earning surprise history, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters by an average of 3.1%.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (BR Quick QuoteBR - Free Report) : BR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Revenue for fiscal 2024 is estimated to climb 7.2% year over year to $6.5 billion.