Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Lowered to "Neutral" Rating by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas cut shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $265.00 target price on the credit services provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EFX. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.47.

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Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $4.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $235.60. 1,012,913 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 907,992. The company has a market cap of $29.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $253.38 and a 200 day moving average of $267.05.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,667,165,000 after acquiring an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after acquiring an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $796,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. 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.