Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS.

Equifax Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE EFX opened at $216.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.21. Equifax has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10. The company has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet raised shares of Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.35.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 91.4% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 59.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.