Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Cut to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

EFX has been the topic of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.67.

Equifax Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE EFX opened at $265.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $267.78 and a 200-day moving average of $270.01. The company has a market cap of $32.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.07, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.9% during the second 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 raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 127.1% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.