Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $238.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Equifax from $235.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $230.00 price objective on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $250.00 price objective on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, February 5th.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total value of $7,629,624.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,536,856.34. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.72, for a total value of $880,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,532,018.12. This trade represents a 7.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,671 shares of company stock worth $9,960,181. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,282,951 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,920,535,000 after acquiring an additional 316,048 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Equifax by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,056,441 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,147,000 after acquiring an additional 66,289 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Equifax by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,344,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $942,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,921 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,809,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $609,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,819 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Equifax by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,736,467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $701,986,000 after acquiring an additional 163,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $181.89 on Wednesday. Equifax has a 12-month low of $166.02 and a 12-month high of $281.03. The stock has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.90 and its 200-day moving average is $210.48.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 10.87%.The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.300-8.700 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.730 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.56 dividend. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.11%.

About Equifax

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.