Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Receives $298.56 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $298.56.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 lifted its position in Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $243.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $251.05 and a 200 day moving average of $263.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.