William Blair Has Pessimistic Outlook of Equifax Q4 Earnings

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) – Equities research analysts at William Blair decreased their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Equifax in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now anticipates that the credit services provider will post earnings per share of $2.08 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.12. The consensus estimate for Equifax’s current full-year earnings is $7.27 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Equifax’s FY2026 earnings at $10.08 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.12.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $271.69 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $258.12 and a 200-day moving average of $273.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,338 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Equifax by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 13,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grange Capital LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.