Gordon Haskett Upgrades Equifax (NYSE:EFX) to Strong-Buy

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) was upgraded by Gordon Haskett to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EFX. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $243.15 on Tuesday. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $259.15 and a 200-day moving average of $273.44. The firm has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a PE ratio of 50.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.58. 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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $330,400,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 76,913.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $241,087,000 after acquiring an additional 945,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.