Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Sells 90 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,486 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Equifax by 98.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $239.64 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.68. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

About Equifax

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.