Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $305.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.39.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $273.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.79, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve 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 50 day moving average price is $267.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 127.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.