Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $350.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $270.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $33.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.14, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $292.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.77.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 97,931 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,199,000 after purchasing an additional 13,212 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $78,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax in the first quarter worth approximately $212,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Equifax by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,577,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at $1,767,000. 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.