Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.65-1.75 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.87. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.41-1.43 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.200-7.500 EPS.

Equifax Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $237.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.53 billion, a PE ratio of 54.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $259.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.05. Equifax has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Equifax from an underperform rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $195.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Equifax from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $267.00.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,799,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 51,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. AKO Capital LLP increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 666,628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,850,000 after acquiring an additional 156,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.