Commerce Bank Invests $2.55 Million in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 16,072 Equifax shares worth approximately $2.55 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors own 96.2% of Equifax, with BlackRock and other major funds also building or initiating positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Equifax receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $216.89, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.
• Equifax exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.25 EPS and $1.70 billion in revenue, up 10.6% year over year. The company also declared a $0.56 quarterly dividend, representing a 1.2% annualized yield.

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,072 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,551,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax during the second quarter worth about $1,491,357,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Equifax by 310.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,184,569 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $753,515,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165,120 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $290,868,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $275,635,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $174,843,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Equifax from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $208.00 target price on Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $245.00 to $232.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equifax from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $215.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.89.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $194.54 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $172.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Equifax, Inc. has a one year low of $150.74 and a one year high of $271.84.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 21.61% and a net margin of 10.73%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total value of $6,506,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares in the company, valued at $46,808,582.40. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc NYSE: EFX is a global data, analytics and technology company that specializes in consumer and commercial credit reporting, decisioning tools and identity solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States and provides credit information and related services to lenders, employers, governments and consumers worldwide.

The company's offerings include consumer credit reports and scores, credit monitoring and identity protection services, and a range of business-oriented products for risk management, fraud detection and compliance.

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