Equifax (EFX) Competitors

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

Is VRSK or EFX a better dividend stock?

Verisk Analytics pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Equifax pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Verisk Analytics pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equifax pays out 40.9% 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. Verisk Analytics has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Equifax has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend VRSK or EFX?

Verisk Analytics presently has a consensus target price of $302.40, suggesting a potential downside of 0.51%. Equifax has a consensus target price of $294.94, suggesting a potential upside of 12.65%. Given Equifax's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Equifax is more favorable than Verisk Analytics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Verisk Analytics	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Equifax	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.74

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of VRSK or EFX?

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

Which has more volatility & risk, VRSK or EFX?

Verisk Analytics has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equifax has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is VRSK or EFX more profitable?

Verisk Analytics has a net margin of 33.13% compared to Equifax's net margin of 10.68%. Verisk Analytics' return on equity of 396.08% beat Equifax's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Verisk Analytics	33.13%	396.08%	20.50%
Equifax	10.68%	18.81%	7.60%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, VRSK or EFX?

Verisk Analytics has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Verisk Analytics	$2.88B	14.75	$958.20M	$6.83	44.50
Equifax	$5.68B	5.72	$604.10M	$4.89	53.54

Does the media favor VRSK or EFX?

In the previous week, Verisk Analytics had 13 more articles in the media than Equifax. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Verisk Analytics and 8 mentions for Equifax. Verisk Analytics' average media sentiment score of 1.40 beat Equifax's score of 1.28 indicating that Verisk Analytics is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Verisk Analytics	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Equifax	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Verisk Analytics and Equifax tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.