Short Interest in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Decreases By 5.2%

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,190,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the September 30th total of 2,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 908,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE EFX traded down $2.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $267.05. 267,947 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 849,676. The company has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax has a 12-month low of $164.23 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,304 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,119 in the last 90 days. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Conning Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 4.7% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Equifax by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 3.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.