Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stake Boosted by Sonen Capital LLC

Sonen Capital LLC lifted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for 2.0% of Sonen Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Sonen Capital LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in Equifax by 55.5% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $223.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $254.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.00. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $275.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

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.