William Blair Research Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) – Equities researchers at William Blair decreased their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for Equifax in a report released on Friday, April 19th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now anticipates that the credit services provider will post earnings of $1.72 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.88. The consensus estimate for Equifax’s current full-year earnings is $7.38 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Equifax’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.92 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.39 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.56 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.05 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet upgraded Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $218.93 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $257.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.21. The company has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.76, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.51. Equifax has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,218,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Equifax by 58.2% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,788,875 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $327,686,000 after buying an additional 657,999 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,667,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.