Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 297,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,039 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $75,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.50.

Equifax Trading Down 9.3 %

EFX opened at $210.30 on Monday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $209.89 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.54, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $248.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.