Your signal is the one call Be The Puck makes on a stock, and you set it: weight the plays, analysts, P/E, growth, debt, trend and more, and move the Buy and Sell lines. Every page follows your choice. How the score works
All 18 factors for PAYX
Factor
PAYX
Points
What it is
Plays in
37%
37
The share of the plays you count that hold it now.
Analysts' upside
+7% · 14 analysts
39
How far analysts' average 12-month target sits above the price (3+ analysts). −20% scores 0, +50% full marks; at most 50 while the price is below its 200-day average, since targets lag a falling price.
Analysts' rating
3.0 · hold
0
The analysts' average recommendation: strong buy scores 100, hold or worse 0.
P/E
21.1×
62
Price over the last four quarters' earnings per share. Lower ranks higher; a loss scores 0. Source: SEC filings to 2026-08-31.
Forward P/E
16.6×
47
Price over next year's expected earnings. Lower ranks higher; an expected loss scores 0. Source: Yahoo Finance.
PEG
1.85
37
P/E divided by expected earnings growth. Lower ranks higher; around 1 is often read as fair for the growth. Source: Yahoo Finance.
Dividends over the last year as a share of the price. Higher ranks higher; no dividend scores 0. Source: SEC filings to 2026-08-31.
Earnings growth
+13%
41
Earnings per share over the last four quarters against the four before (the latest quarter on a year earlier where filings aren't available). Higher ranks higher. Source: SEC filings to 2026-08-31.
Revenue growth
+14%
51
Revenue over the last four quarters against the four before (the latest quarter on a year earlier where filings aren't available). Higher ranks higher. Source: SEC filings to 2026-08-31.
Debt against shareholders' equity. Lower ranks higher; negative equity scores 0. Source: SEC filings to 2026-08-31.
Off the high
−17% from its 1-year high
45
How far the price sits below its highest close of the last year: 100 points at the high, none at 30% or more below. The exit rule: a stock that keeps falling loses points whatever else it has going for it.
Trend
+4% vs 200-day
56
How far the price sits above its 200-day average. Higher ranks higher.
It closed 4% above its 200-day average and 17% below its 52-week high.
Crash exposure reads low.
Analysts' average 12-month target is $113.93, 7% above the close (14 analysts).
This analysis does not constitute trading advice. Please meet with an advisor or independently review sources before making any decision. New to this? Start with the basics.
Plays in37 / 100Every play Be The Puck tests, in 7 families.
A call is right when the stock rose after an in call or fell after an out call. Trend plays are built to take many small losses for a few big wins, so their hit rates run lower; being right often isn't the same as making the most money. How we test a play.
Each candle is one trading day: the box spans the open and close, the thin line the day's high and low. Hollow boxes closed up, filled boxes closed down. Toggle the averages to see the trend the plays read. Dots above the candles mark news and company filings: hover or tap one to see the story and how the stock moved from the last close before it, against the market on the same days.
What moved PAYX lately
Its biggest move against the S&P 500 in the last 30 sessions, the news read on each, and how reliably that kind of news has moved stocks before. How it's measured
Wed Sep 23−8.0% against the S&P 5003.7× a normal day
PAYX −8.8%, the S&P 500 −0.8% that session; −12.1% against the S&P 500 over five sessions.
▲Small beatEarnings report · Sep 23, 8:00 am ET
PAYX reported earnings per share of 1.34 against 1.32 expected: a 1.6% beat.
After small beats, stocks did better than their index at the first close after the news 51% of the time (1,404 of 2,760 on 305 stocks; median move +0.1%). This time the stock went the other way. Low predictability
PAYX after small beats: ahead of its index at the first close after the news 13 of 35 times (median −0.7%).
Two years of calls, week by week
InOutShare of plays in
One row per play, grouped by family. When most rows turn green at once, the trend is broad. When they split, the plays disagree and the stock is usually chopping sideways.
Calls right: how often the play's calls on PAYX went the right way since 2005. Record columns: play / buy and hold, annual return and worst drawdown since 2005. Click a column to sort.Sort with the menu above the list.
A crash marks every stock down; debt decides which companies come through. The storm test scores both halves: how hard the stock swings with the market, and how much debt it carries into a downturn. It describes fragility; it does not predict a crash.
Software - Application · Paychex, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides human capital management solutions (HCM) for human resources, payroll processing, employee benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, and Israel. It offers technology and advisory solutions; and payroll tax administration services.
Size and valuation
Market cap
$37.8B
What the whole company is worth at today's price: share price × shares outstanding.
Revenue (last 12 months)
$6.6B
Total sales. The market values it at 5.7× sales.
P/E ratio
21.1×
Buyers pay $21 for each $1 of the last year's profit.
Forward P/E
16.6×
Price against analysts' estimate of next year's profit. Lower than the P/E means profit is expected to grow.
Price to book
10.2×
Price against the company's net assets (its equity) per share.
Profit and growth
Profit margin
28.3%
Keeps 28¢ of each dollar of sales as profit.
Revenue growth
+13.7%
The last four quarters' sales against the four before.
Earnings growth
+13.0%
Same comparison for profit.
Return on equity
48.7%
Yearly profit as a share of shareholders' money in the business.
Free cash flow
$1.9B
Cash left after running and investing in the business.
Loans and bonds it has to pay back, with interest.
Cash
$934M
Cash and short-term investments on hand.
Debt to equity
1.24×
Moderate.
Interest cover
9.6×
Interest is easily paid from profit.
Wall Street
Average analyst target
$113.93
7% above the close, from 14 analysts (range $96.00 to $150.00).
Consensus rating
Hold
Analysts' average recommendation. Ratings lean positive: sell ratings are rare.
Dividend yield
4.27%
Yearly dividends as a share of the price.
P/E, price to sales and book, growth, margin and return on equity from the company's SEC filings for the quarter to 2026-08-31; other company figures from Yahoo Finance, fetched Oct 14, 2026. Analyst targets are opinions, not forecasts Be The Puck checks.