Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EFX. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after buying an additional 29,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $254.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $31.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $261.83 and its 200-day moving average is $272.19.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 payout ratio is currently 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.