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

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $270.19.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE EFX opened at $236.83 on Thursday. Equifax has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $235.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.35. The stock has a market cap of $29.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after buying an additional 137,961 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after buying an additional 298,846 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,949,000 after acquiring an additional 206,037 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Company Profile

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.