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

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $287.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,238 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,378 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 1,740.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $204,218,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $154,667,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $126,794,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $271.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a PE ratio of 60.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.89. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $276.69.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

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.