Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.56 Per Share

Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.56 per share by the credit services provider on Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This is a 12.0% increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Equifax has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Equifax has a payout ratio of 21.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equifax to earn $9.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.2%.

Equifax Stock Up 4.0%

NYSE EFX traded up $7.83 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $205.95. 366,545 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,992,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $207.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.15. Equifax has a one year low of $166.02 and a one year high of $281.03.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. Equifax had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.300-8.700 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.730 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 6,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.81, for a total value of $1,216,567.53. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,035,259.16. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.89, for a total value of $7,629,624.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,536,856.34. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,671 shares of company stock valued at $9,960,181. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $204,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 6,240.7% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 594.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,162 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,414,000 after buying an additional 11,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.