Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $311.12.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 76,913.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Equifax by 5,123.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,827,000 after purchasing an additional 112,910 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $262.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $258.08 and its 200 day moving average is $273.04. Equifax has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.