Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Takes $238,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 72.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,065,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $764,000. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $1,543,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 0.4 %

Equifax stock opened at $253.58 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.67 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.95. The stock has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % 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 link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

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.