Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 7.200-7.500 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 7.640. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.7 billion-$5.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.8 billion. Equifax also updated its FY24 guidance to $7.20-7.50 EPS.

Equifax Stock Down 8.5 %

NYSE EFX opened at $217.51 on Friday. Equifax has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $258.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.95. The company has a market cap of $27.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Equifax from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $269.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 105,549.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,813,671 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,543,825,000 after purchasing an additional 38,776,933 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 77.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,935,666 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,736,737,000 after buying an additional 3,910,202 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,992,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 28.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,562,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $519,829,000 after acquiring an additional 569,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,226,424 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,808,000 after acquiring an additional 535,644 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.