Equifax Inc. (EFX) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 21st

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st.

Equifax has a dividend payout ratio of 16.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Equifax to earn $10.04 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 15.5%.

Equifax Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $246.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $259.54 and a 200 day moving average of $273.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.