Before the opening bell on Wednesday, Paychex (PAYX ) reported higher third quarter results, and beat analysts’ estimates.

PAYX’s Earnings in Brief

• PAYX reported earnings of $169.4 million, or 46 cents per share, up from $160.1 million, or 44 cents per share, last year.
• Revenue increased 8% to $704.3 million from $650.4 million.
• On average, analysts expected to see EPS of 46 cents and $701.16 million in revenue.
• Looking ahead, the company expects to see FY2015 earnings to grow by 6-8%. Analysts expect to see EPS of $1.85.

CEO Commentary

President and CEO Martin Mucci commented: “We continued to make good progress against our initiatives during the third quarter. Selling season execution was strong in new annualized revenue sold.”

PAYX’s Dividend

The company paid its last 38 cent dividend on February 17. We expect PAYX to declare its next dividend in May.

Click here to see the complete history of PAYX dividends.

The Bottom Line

Shares of PAYX were down $1.13, or 2.32% during Wednesday morning trading. The stock is up 9.05% YTD.

Paychex (PAYX ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.