Principal Securities Inc. Has $203,000 Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Equifax by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $73,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.8 %

EFX stock opened at $240.05 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a PE ratio of 49.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid 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 yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EFX. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

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.