Citigroup Boosts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $304.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $263.00 to $304.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

EFX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Equifax Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $271.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Equifax has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $276.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.87.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $1,235,626.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction of $1,235,626.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at $4,029,028.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen L. Fichuk acquired 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $2,647,378. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 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.