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

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $270.19.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $236.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.23 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.56. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,754,228,000 after buying an additional 137,961 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its position in Equifax by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after buying an additional 298,846 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,949,000 after acquiring an additional 206,037 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.