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 Stock Down 8.5 %

EFX opened at $217.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.95. Equifax has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $275.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.33% and a net margin of 10.42%. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Equifax from $195.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. TheStreet raised Equifax from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Equifax from an underperform rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $267.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 105,549.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,813,671 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,543,825,000 after buying an additional 38,776,933 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,935,666 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $229,992,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equifax by 28.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,562,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $519,829,000 after buying an additional 569,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,226,424 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,015,808,000 after buying an additional 535,644 shares in the last quarter. 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.