Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EFX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $214.00 to $212.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Equifax from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $214.20.

Equifax Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE EFX opened at $205.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Equifax has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $234.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $199.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.70. The company has a market cap of $25.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.45.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The credit services provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 82.6% during the first quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 23,919 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth about $1,833,000. Vetamer Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Equifax by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Vetamer Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,818 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Gillson Capital LP purchased a new position in Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,347,000. 93.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Company Profile

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Equifax, Inc engages in the provision of information solutions and human resources business process outsourcing services. It operates through the following business segments: U.S. Information Solutions, Workforce Solutions and International. The U.S. Information Solutions segment includes consumer and commercial information services, mortgage loan origination information, financial marketing services, and identity management.