Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Update

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.18.

Equifax Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $254.85 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $261.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $31.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.