Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $212.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Equifax traded as low as $168.64 and last traded at $168.76, with a volume of 9497 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $173.35.
A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EFX. Atlantic Securities lowered their price objective on Equifax from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 22nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Equifax from $254.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $225.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.27.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Equifax by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 243 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its position in Equifax by 6.2% during the second quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.
Equifax Trading Down 2.6 %
The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.50.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 20th. The credit services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Equifax Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 2nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 25.66%.
About Equifax
Equifax Inc provides information solutions and human resources business process automation outsourcing services for businesses, governments, and consumers. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers employment, income, criminal history, and social security number verification services, as well as payroll-based transaction, employment tax management, and identity theft protection products.
