Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) to Issue $0.39 Quarterly Dividend

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.39 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

Equifax has a payout ratio of 16.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Equifax to earn $9.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.6%.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $247.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $279.56 and its 200 day moving average is $267.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $30.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax has a 12-month low of $208.25 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

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.