Equifax (EFX) Competitors

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) and Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) are both large-cap business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, community ranking and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor EFX or VRSK?

Equifax received 87 more outperform votes than Verisk Analytics when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.69% of users gave Verisk Analytics an outperform vote while only 63.89% of users gave Equifax an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Equifax	Outperform Votes 644 63.89%	Underperform Votes 364 36.11%
Verisk Analytics	Outperform Votes 557 64.69%	Underperform Votes 304 35.31%

Is EFX or VRSK more profitable?

Verisk Analytics has a net margin of 32.65% compared to Equifax's net margin of 10.63%. Verisk Analytics' return on equity of 274.13% beat Equifax's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equifax	10.63%	19.13%	7.51%
Verisk Analytics	32.65%	274.13%	20.34%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in EFX or VRSK?

96.2% of Equifax shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Verisk Analytics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Equifax shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Verisk Analytics shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, EFX or VRSK?

Verisk Analytics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Equifax. Verisk Analytics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equifax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equifax	$5.73B	5.91	$604.10M	$4.89	55.75
Verisk Analytics	$2.93B	14.88	$614.60M	$6.83	45.63

Which has more volatility & risk, EFX or VRSK?

Equifax has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verisk Analytics has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EFX or VRSK a better dividend stock?

Equifax pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Equifax pays out 40.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Verisk Analytics pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Equifax has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Verisk Analytics has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend EFX or VRSK?

Equifax presently has a consensus target price of $293.75, indicating a potential upside of 7.75%. Verisk Analytics has a consensus target price of $302.40, indicating a potential downside of 2.97%. Given Equifax's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Equifax is more favorable than Verisk Analytics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equifax	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.79
Verisk Analytics	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Does the media favor EFX or VRSK?

In the previous week, Equifax had 3 more articles in the media than Verisk Analytics. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Equifax and 12 mentions for Verisk Analytics. Equifax's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat Verisk Analytics' score of 0.99 indicating that Equifax is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Equifax	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Verisk Analytics	5 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Equifax beats Verisk Analytics on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.