Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Takes Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,061 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 138.2% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $290.30 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $292.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.76. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.11.

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.