Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 40,861 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Key Points

• HSBC increased its Equifax stake by 15% in the second quarter, acquiring 40,861 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 312,946 shares valued at approximately $49.5 million.
• Equifax maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from analysts, with 15 Buy ratings and six Holds and an average price target of $215.16, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Equifax exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.25 EPS and $1.70 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, representing a 1.3% annualized yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 15.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 312,946 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 40,861 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.27% of Equifax worth $49,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EFX. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $463,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,028,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its holdings in Equifax by 1,253.8% during the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 24,978 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,420,000 after acquiring an additional 23,133 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,098,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $222.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equifax from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Equifax from $215.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,791 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $6,506,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,808,582.40. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $177.31 on Tuesday. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.74 and a fifty-two week high of $271.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $178.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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, equities research analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 39.37%.

Equifax Profile

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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