Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in Equifax, purchasing 2,575 shares valued at approximately $668,000 in the second quarter.
• Equifax recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.00, surpassing analyst expectations, and announced an annualized dividend of $2.00 with a yield of 0.9%.
• Major institutional investors have increased their stakes in Equifax, with Price T Rowe Associates Inc. raising its holdings by 40% in the first quarter.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,575 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $668,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equifax by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,037,804 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,714,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009,987 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Equifax by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,801,325 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $682,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,446 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Equifax by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 4,570,557 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,113,205,000 after acquiring an additional 987,772 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Equifax by 119.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,453,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $354,044,000 after acquiring an additional 790,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,318,914 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $321,235,000 after acquiring an additional 472,861 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 0.2%

EFX stock opened at $226.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.39, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $284.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.60.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 10.95%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Equifax has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.870-1.970 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.330-7.630 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.93.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total transaction of $11,665,891.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,533,591.12. This represents a 25.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax 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.

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