Short Interest in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Grows By 19.2%

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,290,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the March 15th total of 2,760,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Argus lowered Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.31.

Equifax Stock Down 2.8 %

EFX traded down $6.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $215.06. 1,475,544 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 964,453. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.53, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $254.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.