Oakmark Funds, an investment management firm, published its “Oakmark Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be seen here. A return of -3% was reported by the fund for the first quarter of 2022, outperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index which had a -5% return for the same period. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.
In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Oakmark Fund mentioned Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) and explained its insights into the company. Founded in 1899, Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) is an Atlanta, Georgia-based multinational consumer credit reporting agency with a $24.9 billion market capitalization. Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) delivered a -30.68% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -11.65%. The stock closed at $202.95 per share on April 21, 2022.
Here is what Oakmark Fund has to say about Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:
“Equifax (NYSE:EFX) is one of the leading U.S. credit bureaus. The company competes in a triopoly with TransUnion and Experian, all of which are great businesses due to their entrenched competitive position, valuable data sets, deep client integration and pricing power. In our view, what separates Equifax from its peers is its proprietary Workforce Solutions database, which is now its largest and most differentiated business. Workforce Solutions is an income and employment database used to evaluate the creditworthiness of a consumer in real-time. Furthermore, Equifax’s collection of alternative data is becoming increasingly important to lenders so they can assess the creditworthiness of consumers with thin or even nonexistent credit files. We were able to purchase this well-managed company at an attractive valuation due to concerns that rising interest rates would adversely affect credit inquiries. Despite these near-term headwinds, Equifax recently reiterated full-year guidance and continues to expect significant market outgrowth. Longer term, the company anticipates 7-10% organic sales growth, an outlook that we believe is not properly reflected in today’s stock price.”
Our calculations show that Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was in 41 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 43 funds in the previous quarter. Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) delivered a -10.06% return in the past 3 months.
In September 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
