HighTower Advisors LLC Has $14.81 Million Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $14,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Equifax by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 30,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,659,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Equifax by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after buying an additional 5,944 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $235.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $253.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.75. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus lowered Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.47.

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.