Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas cut shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. BNP Paribas currently has $265.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.47.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $235.96 on Friday. Equifax 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. The company has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.00.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth $264,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 273,033 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,233,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.