Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada to "Outperform" Rating

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $300.00 price objective on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EFX. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE EFX traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $245.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,169,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,966. The company has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.78, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $252.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.90.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.