Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,039 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.24% of Equifax worth $75,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $73,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,203,000. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Equifax by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 555,733 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,628,000 after acquiring an additional 18,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynwood Price Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,927,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $210.30 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.10 and a 200 day moving average of $261.08. The company has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $209.89 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on EFX shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.50.

About Equifax

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.