Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $282.70 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $294.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.80. The firm has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a PE ratio of 62.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.32.

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.