Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Update

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 2,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 in the last 90 days. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $73,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $254.85 on Thursday. Equifax has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $261.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.19. The stock has a market cap of $31.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.63, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.18.

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.