Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Given “Sector Perform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 25th, 2023

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $205.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $187.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Equifax from $214.00 to $212.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $240.00 to $235.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $214.20.

Equifax Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $200.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.49. Equifax has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $234.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.45.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The credit services provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 105,549.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,813,671 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,543,825,000 after purchasing an additional 38,776,933 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,935,666 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,736,737,000 after buying an additional 3,910,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,992,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,392.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,003,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $172,030,000 after acquiring an additional 936,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,501,000. Institutional investors own 93.84% of the company’s stock.

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.