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

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of 0.39 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st.

Equifax has a payout ratio of 14.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equifax to earn $8.74 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 17.8%.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $247.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average is $261.38 and its 200 day moving average is $274.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.41.

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.