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

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 2nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be given a dividend of 0.39 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, December 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd.

Equifax has a dividend payout ratio of 19.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Equifax to earn $8.09 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 19.3%.

Equifax Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $209.56 on Tuesday. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $240.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $25.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.66, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.26.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The credit services provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.02). Equifax had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equifax will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EFX. TheStreet cut Equifax from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equifax from $204.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on Equifax from $195.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.58, for a total transaction of $1,166,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 63,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,496,372.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 7,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.58, for a total value of $1,166,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 63,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,496,372.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Melissa D. Smith acquired 914 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $166.27 per share, for a total transaction of $151,970.78. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $263,704.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 182.7% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,867 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,096 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 63,161 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,570,000 after acquiring an additional 4,367 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,243 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,645,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 266,334 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $62,668,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.37% 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.