Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equifax updated its Q2 guidance to $1.65-1.75 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $7.20-7.50 EPS.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,573,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 786,929. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $259.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $29.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.02, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Equifax by 91.4% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Equifax by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.