Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

by · The Cerbat Gem

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX – Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $307.74.

A number of research firms recently commented on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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.

Read Our Latest Analysis on EFX

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Equifax by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $78,360,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $917,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $1,274,000. Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $972,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Equifax by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $284.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $294.11 and its 200-day moving average is $261.83.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

About Equifax

(Get Free Report

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.

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