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

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%.

Equifax has a payout ratio of 14.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Equifax to earn $8.74 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 17.8%.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX traded up $3.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $270.35. 1,169,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 893,648. The stock has a market cap of $33.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.08, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $261.48 and a 200 day moving average of $275.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.41.

Equifax Company Profile

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.