Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Update

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) saw a large growth in short interest in 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 short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.18.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax 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 owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $254.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $261.83 and a 200-day moving average of $272.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $31.59 billion, a PE ratio of 56.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

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.