Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.39 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%.

Equifax has a payout ratio of 16.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equifax to earn $9.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.5%.

Equifax Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $5.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $269.32. The stock had a trading volume of 599,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,121. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.19. The firm has a market cap of $33.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $180.31 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax Company Profile

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.