Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Update

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,030,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the February 13th total of 3,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 783,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $200.89 on Friday. Equifax has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $243.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The credit services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.03. Equifax had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 27.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equifax from $223.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $195.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 9.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 14.1% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 439,028 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,100,000 after acquiring an additional 8,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. 93.84% of the stock is currently 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.