Needham & Company LLC Weighs in on Equifax FY2024 Earnings

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) – Equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC reduced their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Equifax in a research report issued on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC analyst K. Peterson now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $7.30 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $272.09 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $294.79 and its 200 day moving average is $263.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 60.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 1.2% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.3% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

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.