Short Interest in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Drops By 15.1%

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,210,000 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the June 30th total of 3,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 825,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.00.

Equifax Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:EFX traded up $2.19 on Monday, reaching $273.93. 609,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 819,914. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. Equifax has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $276.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $244.91 and its 200-day moving average is $248.11.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $1,235,626.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,238 shares of company stock worth $2,647,378 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after buying an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after acquiring an additional 137,961 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $953,612,000 after purchasing an additional 298,846 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 1,740.8% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Equifax by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $388,949,000 after purchasing an additional 206,037 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.