Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) finished Friday with an addition of $1.54 to close at $197.98, an upside of 0.78 percent. An average of 1,078,260 shares of common stock have been traded in the last five days. There was a gain of $5.82 in the past week, and it reached a new high 20 times over the past 12 months. The last 20 days have seen an average of 892,205 shares traded, while the 50-day average volume stands at 1,004,602.
EFX stock has decreased by -2.41% in the last month. The company shares reached their 1-month lowest point of $188.88 on 08/18/23. With the stock rallying to its 52-week high on 07/19/23, shares of the company touched a low of $145.98 and a high of $240.35 in 52 weeks. It has reached a new high 19 times so far this year and achieved 1.86% or $3.62 in price. In spite of this, the price is down -17.63% from the 52-week high.
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Insider Transactions
EFX stock investors should be aware that Equifax Inc. (EFX) stock had its last reported insider trading activity 24 days ago on Aug 02. In this transaction, the insider spent $1,409,658. EVP, CFO & COO, GAMBLE JOHN W JR, disposed of 2,500 shares at a price of $201.33 on Aug 02. The insider now owns more than $503,319 worth of shares. Prior to that, SVP & Corp Controller Griggs James M went on to Sale 250 shares at $210.00 each on May 31. An amount of $52,500 was transacted.
Valuation Metrics
Equifax Inc. (EFX) has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 46.59. The stock’s beta is 1.44. Other valuation ratios to consider include the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio at 4.77, the price-to-book (PB) ratio at 5.80, and the price-to-cash flow ratio at 52.12.
The company has a payout ratio of 36.50%. The company’s most recent quarterly dividend payment was $0.39 a share, without any change from last year. Its latest increase dividend $0.06 reported on Wednesday February 8 2017.
Financial Health
The quick ratio of Equifax Inc. for the three months ended June 29 was 1.20, and the current ratio was 1.20, indicating that the company is able to meet its debt obligations. Further, the company has a long term debt to equity ratio of 1.31 and a total debt to equity ratio of 1.35 for the quarter ending June 29. Equifax Inc.’s EBITDA margin for the year ending June 29 is 32.02%, while its operating margin for the same period stands at 17.00%. Its gross profit as reported stood at $2.94 billion compared to revenue of $5.12 billion.
For investors, determining the potential profitability of the investment also depends on the performance of the company’s management. In the past 12 months, Equifax Inc.’s return on assets was 4.60%.
Earnings Surprise
For the three-month period that ended June 29, Equifax Inc. had $5.5 billion in total debt. The analyst consensus anticipated Equifax Inc.’s latest quarter earnings to come in at $1.67 per share, but it turned out to be $1.71, a 2.40% surprise. For the quarter, EBITDA amounted to $389.0 million. Shareholders own equity worth $122.72 million.
Technical Picture
From a technical analysis perspective, let’s take a brief look at Equifax Inc. (EFX) price momentum. RSI 9-day as of the close on 25 August was 51.54%, suggesting the stock is Neutral, with historical volatility in this time frame at 17.26%.
As of today, EFX’s price is $194.85 +3.03% or $5.82 from its 5-day moving average. EFX is currently trading -2.36% lower than its 20-day SMA and -2.11% lower than its 100-day SMA. However, the stock’s current price level is -13.81% below the SMA50 and +19.44% above the SMA200.
The stochastic %K and %D were 67.40% and 51.25%, respectively, and the average true range (ATR) was 3.33. With the 14-day stochastic at 76.63% and the average true range at 3.66, the RSI (14) stands at 42.69%. The stock has reached 3.10 on the 9-day MACD Oscillator while the 14-day reading was at 1.61.
Analyst Ratings
BofA Securities downgraded Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) to a an Underperform rating in its most recent analyst report. Previously, the stock was rated as a Neutral. The consensus rating for Equifax Inc. (EFX) among analysts is Overweight. According to current brokerage recommendations, 1 brokerage firm advise that investors sell EFX, while 9 suggest investors hold. There are 1 analyst who rate the stock as underweight. The stock is rated overweight by 3 analysts, while 10 others rate it as a “buy”.
What is EFX’s price target for the next 12 months?
Analysts predict a range of price targets between $170.00 and $260.00, with a median target of $233.00. Taking a look at these predictions, the average price target given by analysts for Equifax Inc. (EFX) stock is $228.82.
