Q3 2024 Earnings Forecast for Equifax Inc. Issued By Zacks Research (NYSE:EFX)

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Equifax in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 22nd. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the credit services provider will earn $1.96 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.00. The consensus estimate for Equifax’s current full-year earnings is $7.36 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Equifax’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.09 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $7.27 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.85 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on EFX. TheStreet raised Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $223.42 on Thursday. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.68. The company has a market cap of $27.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,218,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 58.2% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,788,875 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $327,686,000 after acquiring an additional 657,999 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,667,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,794,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.