Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 295.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,177 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 612.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Chad M. Borton sold 2,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.89, for a total transaction of $426,899.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,132,885.02. The trade was a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.40, for a total transaction of $6,515,168.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 271,730 shares in the company, valued at $46,846,252. The trade was a 12.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equifax from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $222.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.39.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $177.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.32. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.74 and a fifty-two week high of $271.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.26.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The credit services provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Equifax has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.340-8.740 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.44%.

Equifax Profile

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that specializes in consumer and commercial credit reporting, decisioning tools and identity solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States and provides credit information and related services to lenders, employers, governments and consumers worldwide.

The company’s offerings include consumer credit reports and scores, credit monitoring and identity protection services, and a range of business-oriented products for risk management, fraud detection and compliance.