Is Equifax Stock a Good Investment?

Equifax Investment Advice

  EFX
To provide specific investment advice or recommendations on Equifax stock, we recommend investors consider the following general factors when evaluating Equifax. This will help you to make an informed decision on whether to include Equifax in one of your diversified portfolios:
  • Examine Equifax's financial health by looking at its balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. Analyze key financial ratios, such as Price-to-Earnings (P/E), Price-to-Sales (P/S), and Price-to-Book (P/B), to determine whether the stock is fairly valued or over/undervalued.
  • Research Equifax's leadership team and their track record. Good management can help Equifax navigate difficult times and make strategic decisions that benefit shareholders and increases its net worth.
  • Consider the overall health of the Research & Consulting Services space and any emerging trends that could impact Equifax's business and its evolving consumer preferences.
  • Compare Equifax's performance and market position to its competitors. Analyze how Equifax is positioned in terms of product offerings, innovation, and market share.
  • Check if Equifax pays a dividend and its dividend yield and payout ratio.
  • Review what financial analysts are saying about Equifax's stock and their price targets. However, remember that analysts' opinions can vary, and their predictions may not always be accurate.
It's important to note that investing in Equifax stock, carries risks, and you should carefully consider your investment goals and risk tolerance before making any investment decisions. Also, remember that it's important for investors to have a long-term perspective and a well-diversified portfolio to manage the impact of stock market volatility on their investments. Below is a detailed guide on how to decide if Equifax is a good investment.
 
Sell
 
Buy
Strong Hold
Macroaxis provides advice on Equifax to complement and cross-verify current analyst consensus on Equifax. Our investment recommendation engine determines the company's potential to grow exclusively from the perspective of an investor's current risk tolerance and investing horizon. To make sure Equifax is not overpriced, please confirm all Equifax fundamentals, including its short ratio, current asset, and the relationship between the total debt and beta . Given that Equifax has a price to earning of 32.86 X, we urge you to verify Equifax market performance and probability of bankruptcy to ensure the company can sustain itself in the current economic cycle given your prevailing risk tolerance and investing horizon.

Market Performance

Very WeakDetails

Volatility

Very steadyDetails

Hype Condition

Low keyDetails

Current Valuation

OvervaluedDetails

Odds Of Distress

LowDetails

Economic Sensitivity

Follows the market closelyDetails

Investor Sentiment

AlarmedDetails

Analyst Consensus

Strong BuyDetails

Financial Strenth (F Score)

HealthyDetails

Financial Leverage

Not RatedDetails

Reporting Quality (M-Score)

Unlikely ManipulatorDetails

Examine Equifax Stock

Researching Equifax's stock involves analyzing various aspects of the company and its industry to make an informed investment decision. The key areas to focus on are fundamentals, business model and competitive advantage. It is also important to analyze trends in revenue, net income, and cash flow, as well as key financial ratios, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and debt-to-equity (D/E). About 96.0% of the company shares are held by institutions such as insurance companies. The company has Price/Earnings To Growth (PEG) ratio of 0.77. Equifax last dividend was issued on the 22nd of November 2024. The entity had 2:1 split on the 18th of December 1995.
To determine if Equifax is a good investment, evaluating the company's potential for future growth is also very important. This may include expanding into new markets, launching new products or services, or improving operational efficiency. Companies with strong growth prospects can be more attractive investments. This aspect of the research should be conducted in the context of the overall market and industry in which the company operates and should include an analysis of growth potential, competitive landscape, and any regulatory or economic factors that could impact the business. Some of the essential points regarding Equifax's research are outlined below:
Equifax generated a negative expected return over the last 90 days
Equifax has 5.71 B in debt with debt to equity (D/E) ratio of 1.56, which is OK given its current industry classification. Equifax has a current ratio of 0.63, suggesting that it has not enough short term capital to pay financial commitments when the payables are due. Note however, debt could still be an excellent tool for Equifax to invest in growth at high rates of return.
Over 96.0% of Equifax shares are held by institutions such as insurance companies
Latest headline from zacks.com: Maximus Q4 Revenues Surpass Estimates, Earnings Miss

Equifax Quarterly Cost Of Revenue

645.2 Million

Equifax uses earnings reports to provide investors with an update of all three financial statements, including the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. Therefore, it is also crucial when considering investing in Equifax. Every quarterly earnings report provides investors with an overview of sales, expenses, and net income for the most recent period. It also may provide a comparison to Equifax's previous reporting period. The quarterly earnings reports are usually disseminated to the public via Form 10-Q, which is a legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter.
7th of February 2024
Upcoming Quarterly Report
View
17th of April 2024
Next Financial Report
View
31st of December 2023
Next Fiscal Quarter End
View
7th of February 2024
Next Fiscal Year End
View
30th of September 2023
Last Quarter Report
View
31st of December 2022
Last Financial Announcement
View
Earnings surprises can significantly impact Equifax's stock price both in the short term and over time. Negative earnings surprises usually result in a price decline. However, it has been seen that positive earnings surprises lead to an immediate rise in a stock's price and a gradual increase over time. This is why we often hear news about some companies beating earning projections. Financial analysts spend a large amount of time predicting earnings per share (EPS) along with other important future indicators. Many analysts use forecasting models, management guidance, and additional fundamental information to derive an EPS estimate. Below are the table of largest EPS Surprises Equifax's investors have experienced.
Reported
Fiscal Date
Estimated EPS
Reported EPS
Surprise
1996-04-16
1996-03-310.220.250.0313 
2021-07-21
2021-06-301.711.980.2715 
2020-10-21
2020-09-301.61.870.2716 
2020-07-22
2020-06-301.31.60.323 
2021-04-21
2021-03-311.551.970.4227 

Know Equifax's Top Institutional Investors

Have you ever been surprised when a price of an equity instrument such as Equifax is soaring high without any particular reason? This is usually happening because many institutional investors are aggressively trading Equifax backward and forwards among themselves. Equifax's institutional investor refers to the entity that pools money to purchase Equifax's securities or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial and private banks, credit unions, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies that invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term and may influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments.
Shares
Amvescap Plc.2024-06-30
2.4 M
Harris Associates L.p.2024-06-30
2.3 M
Parnassus Investments Llc2024-09-30
2.1 M
Generation Investment Management Llp2024-09-30
2.1 M
Cantillon Capital Management Llc2024-09-30
1.8 M
Van Eck Associates Corporation2024-06-30
1.5 M
Jensen Investment Management2024-09-30
1.2 M
Bank Of America Corp2024-06-30
1.2 M
Mitsubishi Ufj Asset Management Co.,ltd2024-09-30
1.1 M
Vanguard Group Inc2024-09-30
14.3 M
Capital Research & Mgmt Co - Division 32024-09-30
12 M
Note, although Equifax's institutional investors appear to be way more sophisticated than retail investors, it remains unclear if professional active investment managers can reliably enhance risk-adjusted returns by an amount that exceeds fees and expenses.

Equifax's market capitalization trends

The company currently falls under 'Large-Cap' category with a total capitalization of 31.43 B.

Market Cap

2.81 Billion

Equifax's profitablity analysis

Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Return On Tangible Assets 0.16  0.18 
Return On Capital Employed 0.09  0.09 
Return On Assets 0.04  0.04 
Return On Equity 0.12  0.11 
The company has Net Profit Margin of 0.1 %, which implies that it may need a different competitive strategy as even a very small decline in it revenue may erase profits and result in a net loss. This is way below average. In the same way, it shows Net Operating Margin of 0.17 %, which entails that for every 100 dollars of revenue, it generated $0.17 of operating income.
Determining Equifax's profitability involves analyzing its financial statements and using various financial metrics to determine if Equifax is a good buy. For example, gross profit margin measures Equifax's profitability after accounting for the cost of goods sold, while net profit margin measures profitability after accounting for all expenses. Other important metrics include return on assets, return on equity, and free cash flow. By reviewing multiple sources and metrics, you can gain a complete picture of Equifax's profitability and make more informed investment decisions.
Please note, the imprecision that can be found in Equifax's accounting process means that the reasonable investor should take a skeptical approach toward the financial statement analysis of Equifax. Check Equifax's Beneish M Score to see the likelihood of Equifax's management manipulating its earnings.

Evaluate Equifax's management efficiency

Equifax has Return on Asset of 0.0522 % which means that on every $100 spent on assets, it made $0.0522 of profit. This is way below average. In the same way, it shows a return on shareholders' equity (ROE) of 0.1193 %, implying that it generated $0.1193 on every 100 dollars invested. Equifax's management efficiency ratios could be used to measure how well Equifax manages its routine affairs as well as how well it operates its assets and liabilities. Return On Tangible Assets is likely to rise to 0.18 in 2024, whereas Return On Capital Employed is likely to drop 0.09 in 2024. At this time, Equifax's Total Assets are fairly stable compared to the past year. Non Current Assets Total is likely to rise to about 11.5 B in 2024, whereas Non Currrent Assets Other are likely to drop slightly above 169.1 M in 2024.
Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Book Value Per Share 38.14  40.05 
Tangible Book Value Per Share(33.33)(31.66)
Enterprise Value Over EBITDA 22.73  22.36 
Price Book Value Ratio 6.70  4.43 
Enterprise Value Multiple 22.73  22.36 
Price Fair Value 6.70  4.43 
Enterprise ValueB3.1 B
The strategic decisions made by Equifax management significantly impact its financial stability and market performance. Evaluating these factors helps determine whether the stock is a worthwhile investment.
Dividend Yield
0.0062
Forward Dividend Yield
0.0062
Forward Dividend Rate
1.56
Beta
1.594

Basic technical analysis of Equifax Stock

As of the 25th of November, Equifax shows the Variance of 2.08, mean deviation of 1.04, and Standard Deviation of 1.44. Equifax technical analysis allows you to utilize historical prices and volume patterns in order to determine a pattern that computes the direction of the firm's future prices.

Equifax's insider trading activities

Some recent studies suggest that insider trading raises the cost of capital for securities issuers and decreases overall economic growth. Trading by specific Equifax insiders, such as employees or executives, is commonly permitted as long as it does not rely on Equifax's material information that is not in the public domain. Local jurisdictions usually require such trading to be reported in order to monitor insider transactions. In many U.S. states, trading conducted by corporate officers, key employees, directors, or significant shareholders must be reported to the regulator or publicly disclosed, usually within a few business days of the trade. In these cases Equifax insiders are required to file a Form 4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when buying or selling shares of their own companies.

Equifax's Outstanding Corporate Bonds

Equifax issues bonds to finance its operations. Corporate bonds make up one of the largest components of the U.S. bond market, which is considered the world's largest securities market. Equifax uses the proceeds from bond sales for a wide variety of purposes, including financing ongoing mergers and acquisitions, buying new equipment, investing in research and development, buying back their own stock, paying dividends to shareholders, and even refinancing existing debt. Most Equifax bonds can be classified according to their maturity, which is the date when Equifax has to pay back the principal to investors. Maturities can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term (more than ten years). Longer-term bonds usually offer higher interest rates but may entail additional risks.

Understand Equifax's technical and predictive indicators

Using predictive indicators to make investment decisions involves analyzing Equifax's various financial and market-based factors to help forecast future trends and identify investment opportunities. Select the indicators that are most relevant to your investment strategy. Each indicator has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's essential to combine multiple indicators to get a more comprehensive view of the market and reduce the risk of making poor decisions based on limited data.

Consider Equifax's intraday indicators

Equifax intraday indicators are useful technical analysis tools used by many experienced traders. Just like the conventional technical analysis, daily indicators help intraday investors to analyze the price movement with the timing of Equifax stock daily movement. By combining multiple daily indicators into a single trading strategy, you can limit your risk while still earning strong returns on your managed positions.

Equifax Corporate Filings

13A
13th of November 2024
An amended filing to the original Schedule 13G
ViewVerify
8K
8th of November 2024
Report filed with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about
ViewVerify
F4
29th of October 2024
The report filed by a party regarding the acquisition or disposition of a company's common stock, as well as derivative securities such as options, warrants, and convertible securities
ViewVerify
10Q
21st of October 2024
Quarterly performance report mandated by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to be filed by publicly traded corporations
ViewVerify
Equifax time-series forecasting models is one of many Equifax's stock analysis techniques aimed to predict future share value based on previously observed values. Time-series forecasting models ae widely used for non-stationary data. Non-stationary data are called the data whose statistical properties e.g. the mean and standard deviation are not constant over time but instead, these metrics vary over time. These non-stationary Equifax's historical data is usually called time-series. Some empirical experimentation suggests that the statistical forecasting models outperform the models based exclusively on fundamental analysis to predict the direction of the market movement and maximize returns from investment trading.

Equifax Stock media impact

Far too much social signal, news, headlines, and media speculation about Equifax that are available to investors today. That information is available publicly through Equifax media outlets and privately through word of mouth or via Equifax internal channels. However, regardless of the origin, that massive amount of Equifax data is challenging to quantify into actionable patterns, especially for investors that are not very sophisticated with ever-evolving tools and techniques used in the investment management field.
A primary focus of Equifax news analysis is to determine if its current price reflects all relevant headlines and social signals impacting the current market conditions. A news analyst typically looks at the history of Equifax relative headlines and hype rather than examining external drivers such as technical or fundamental data. It is believed that price action tends to repeat itself due to investors' collective, patterned thinking related to Equifax's headlines and news coverage data. This data is often completely overlooked or insufficiently analyzed for actionable insights to drive Equifax alpha.

Equifax Sentiment by Major News Outlets

Investor sentiment, mood or attitude towards Equifax can have a significant impact on its stock price or the market as a whole. This sentiment can be positive or negative, and various factors, such as economic indicators, news events, or market trends, can influence it. When investor sentiment is positive, investors are more likely to buy stocks, increasing demand and increasing the stock price. Positive investor sentiment can be driven by good news about the company or the broader market, such as solid earnings reports or positive economic data.
Note that negative investor sentiment can cause investors to sell stocks, leading to a decrease in demand and a drop in the stock price. Negative sentiment can be driven by factors such as poor earnings reports, negative news about the company or industry, or broader economic concerns. It's important to note that investor sentiment is just one of many factors that can affect stock prices. Other factors, such as company performance, industry trends, and global economic conditions, can also play a significant role in determining the value of a stock.

Equifax Historical Investor Sentiment

Investor biases related to Equifax's public news can be used to forecast risks associated with an investment in Equifax. The trend in average sentiment can be used to explain how an investor holding Equifax can time the market purely based on public headlines and social activities around Equifax. Please note that most equities that are difficult to arbitrage are affected by market sentiment the most.
Equifax's market sentiment shows the aggregated news analyzed to detect positive and negative mentions from the text and comments. The data is normalized to provide daily scores for Equifax and other traded tickers. The bigger the bubble, the more accurate the estimated score. Higher bars for a given day show more participation in the average Equifax news discussions. The higher the estimate score, the more favorable the investor's outlook on Equifax.

Equifax Corporate Directors

Elane StockIndependent DirectorProfile
Robert SelanderIndependent DirectorProfile
Heather WilsonIndependent DirectorProfile
Audrey TillmanIndependent DirectorProfile

Additional Tools for Equifax Stock Analysis

When running Equifax's price analysis, check to measure Equifax's market volatility, profitability, liquidity, solvency, efficiency, growth potential, financial leverage, and other vital indicators. We have many different tools that can be utilized to determine how healthy Equifax is operating at the current time. Most of Equifax's value examination focuses on studying past and present price action to predict the probability of Equifax's future price movements. You can analyze the entity against its peers and the financial market as a whole to determine factors that move Equifax's price. Additionally, you may evaluate how the addition of Equifax to your portfolios can decrease your overall portfolio volatility.