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

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $267.00.

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th.

Equifax Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $246.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a PE ratio of 56.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $259.36 and a 200 day moving average of $229.50.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 10.36%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.45%.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,743,000. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Equifax by 21.6% in the first quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 1,383 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Equifax by 0.8% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 10,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently 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.