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

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd.

Equifax has a payout ratio of 16.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equifax to earn $9.46 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 16.5%.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $245.03 on Wednesday. Equifax has a one year low of $204.16 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a PE ratio of 54.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on EFX shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.84.

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.