NS Partners Ltd Boosts Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

NS Partners Ltd boosted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the quarter. Equifax accounts for about 1.2% of NS Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Equifax were worth $27,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Equifax by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 126,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,970,000 after buying an additional 15,744 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,904,000 after buying an additional 17,501 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $245.03 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.16 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $280.57 and a 200 day moving average of $267.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.84.

Equifax 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.