Short Interest in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Increases By 13.2%

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the October 15th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 917,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $2.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $245.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,586,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,211. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $282.67 and a 200-day moving average of $267.55. 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 company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax has a 12-month low of $204.16 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax's payout ratio is 34.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EFX. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.47.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 owns 109,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 76,913.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,757,425,000 after buying an additional 342,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 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.