Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,572,846 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 206,037 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.28% of Equifax worth $388,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $343,000. Sonen Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 4,201 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in Equifax by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 97,850 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $24,197,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $460,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $312,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic cut Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $2.13 on Monday, reaching $225.55. 600,048 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,698. The firm has a market cap of $27.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $254.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.64.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Equifax Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.