Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Barclays

Barclays reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $260.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $325.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Five equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.50.

Equifax Stock Down 9.3 %

Shares of EFX opened at $210.30 on Friday. Equifax has a 52-week low of $209.89 and a 52-week 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.08. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 43.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after buying an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,896,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.