Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Cut to “Neutral” at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $265.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.47.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $235.96 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.50. 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 market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 48.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in Equifax by 2.3% in the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Hedge funds and other 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.