Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Up 13.2% in October

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, an increase of 13.2% from the October 15th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 917,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EFX stock traded down $1.92 on Monday, hitting $246.35. The stock had a trading volume of 71,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,415. 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 twelve month low of $204.16 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $282.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.55. The firm has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.17, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Equifax by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Equifax by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 200,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.