Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Down 8.5% in November

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,270,000 shares, a decrease of 8.5% from the October 31st total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of EFX traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $261.09. The stock had a trading volume of 130,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 870,655. The firm has a market cap of $32.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,904,000 after buying an additional 17,501 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,646,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.