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

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $310.41.

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday.

Equifax Trading Down 8.6 %

Equifax stock opened at $247.04 on Friday. Equifax has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.90. The company has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 84.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.3% during the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the third quarter valued at $786,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.