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

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 258,274 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,813 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.21% of Equifax worth $63,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $217.51 on Friday. 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.95. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $275.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.33% and a net margin of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on 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 lowered their target price on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.12.

Equifax 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.