Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.08-2.18 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.438-1.458 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.47 billion. Equifax also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.250-7.350 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on EFX. Bank of America upped their price target on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.74.

Equifax Stock Down 0.1 %

Equifax stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $289.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,153,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 840,413. Equifax has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $294.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.48. The company has a market capitalization of $35.84 billion, a PE ratio of 64.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.57% 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.