Exchange Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Equifax by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $268,156,000 after acquiring an additional 159,332 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Equifax by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 24,044 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,334.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of EFX opened at $240.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $257.43 and a 200-day moving average of $272.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.70, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

Equifax Profile

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.