Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) is a leading provider of comprehensive payroll and integrated human resource and employee benefits outsourcing solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses in the United States. Paychex’s payroll service continues to perform well and the company continues to see better-than-expected demand for its human resource outsourcing services.

The company’s investments in product development and focus on building its sales force to support revenue growth are encouraging. We consider that the company’s expansionary initiatives such as joint ventures and acquisitions support its long-term growth strategy.

However, increased investment in new and innovative products, sluggish macroeconomic conditions and severe competition from other players in the space has made this sector a very tough one to be in for the short term. Due to this, investors are eagerly awaiting PAYX’s earnings report in order to set the record straight and to give some guidance on where this company is heading.

PAYX have a decent history when it comes to recent earnings reports as the stock has beaten estimates thrice and meets once in the last four quarters, making for an average surprise of approximately 2.3%.

Currently, PAYX has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could definitely change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings: PAYX meets on earnings. The company’s reported earnings of 46 cents per share were in-line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Revenue: Revenues surpassed. Paychex posted revenues of $704.3 million, compared to our consensus estimate of $702 million.

Key Stats: The company’s Human Resource Services segment witnessed strong growth mainly driven by a rise in client base and worksite employees, increased revenues from retirement and online HR administration services.

Stock Price:  Shares are down over 1% in the pre-market session.