Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are presently 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 twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $311.18.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last quarter. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $43,329,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,184 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 17.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,872 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,726,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Equifax by 27.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,969,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock traded down $3.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $253.66. 1,323,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 885,396. The stock has a market cap of $31.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.37, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $266.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.67.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Equifax Company Profile

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.