Needham & Company LLC Comments on Equifax FY2024 Earnings

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) – Analysts at Needham & Company LLC dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Equifax in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC analyst K. Peterson now expects that the credit services provider will post earnings of $7.30 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $7.41. Needham & Company LLC currently has a “Buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Equifax’s current full-year earnings is $7.36 per share. Needham & Company LLC also issued estimates for Equifax’s Q1 2025 earnings at $1.82 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.36 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.44 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.05 EPS.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EFX. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Up 0.6 %

EFX opened at $281.99 on Monday. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a PE ratio of 62.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $294.95 and its 200 day moving average is $263.00.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $78,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Equifax by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Equifax by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Equifax by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after buying an additional 17,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Equifax by 183.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.