Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases Shares of 12,611 Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at about $483,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter worth about $617,000. Commerce Bank bought a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,551,000. Weitz Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,471,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $6,506,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,808,582.40. This represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Equifax from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $182.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.89.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $190.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.97 and its 200 day moving average is $178.19. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.74 and a fifty-two week high of $271.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. Equifax had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that specializes in consumer and commercial credit reporting, decisioning tools and identity solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States and provides credit information and related services to lenders, employers, governments and consumers worldwide.

The company’s offerings include consumer credit reports and scores, credit monitoring and identity protection services, and a range of business-oriented products for risk management, fraud detection and compliance.