EFX vs. VRSK, FCN, EXPO, DNB, CBZ, ICFI, HURN, VSEC, CRAI, and ACTG
Should you be buying Equifax stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Equifax include Verisk Analytics (VRSK), FTI Consulting (FCN), Exponent (EXPO), Dun & Bradstreet (DNB), CBIZ (CBZ), ICF International (ICFI), Huron Consulting Group (HURN), VSE (VSEC), CRA International (CRAI), and Acacia Research (ACTG). These companies are all part of the "research & consulting services" industry.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX) and Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Equifax received 55 more outperform votes than Verisk Analytics when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.11% of users gave Verisk Analytics an outperform vote while only 62.76% of users gave Equifax an outperform vote.
Equifax currently has a consensus target price of $270.19, indicating a potential upside of 15.82%. Verisk Analytics has a consensus target price of $254.31, indicating a potential downside of 3.67%. Given Equifax's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Equifax is more favorable than Verisk Analytics.
Verisk Analytics has a net margin of 28.45% compared to Equifax's net margin of 10.42%. Verisk Analytics' return on equity of 268.19% beat Equifax's return on equity.
96.2% of Equifax shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Verisk Analytics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Equifax shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Verisk Analytics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Equifax pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Equifax pays out 34.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Verisk Analytics pays out 29.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
In the previous week, Verisk Analytics had 10 more articles in the media than Equifax. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Verisk Analytics and 6 mentions for Equifax. Equifax's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Verisk Analytics' score of 1.08 indicating that Equifax is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Verisk Analytics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Equifax. Verisk Analytics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equifax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Equifax has a beta of 1.57, indicating that its stock price is 57% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verisk Analytics has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Equifax beats Verisk Analytics on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.
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This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding EFX and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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