Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $380.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equifax traded as high as $308.98 and last traded at $308.07, with a volume of 47442 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $306.75.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.59.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,218,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $126,794,000. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $38.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $282.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.12.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.