Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Equifax (NYSE:EFX)

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.34% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.63.

Equifax Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $253.50 on Wednesday. Equifax has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 51.84, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $258.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.34.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,229 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at $231,000. 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.