Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Invests $93,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 363 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 5,123.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,827,000 after acquiring an additional 112,910 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $246.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $259.54 and its 200 day moving average is $273.65. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

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.