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Equifax, Inc.

  • Avoid This Overvalued Stock With Network Economies

    By Mark Lin - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: EFX, INTX, LOCK

    Premium valuations, coupled with network economies, set alarm bells ringing. The stories of MSN versus Facebook and Yahoo! versus Google, should be telling of the low customer switching costs for firms which have network effects as their moat. As such, LifeLock (NYSE: LOCK), which is trading at lofty valuations of 23 times EV/EBITDA and 27 times forward P/E, should be avoided.

    Listed in October 2012, LifeLock is a more »

  • Grab These Dividend-Paying Top Technology Stocks Now!

    By Aubrey Tabuga - March 13, 2013 | Tickers: CSCO, EFX, IBM, MSI, ORCL

    If you are looking for technology stocks to quench your thirst for stable and possibly increasing streams of dividend income, you've arrived at the right article. Tech stocks are innately aggressive and volatile, hence, the dividends they pay act as an important buffer. I have compiled some technology stocks that are currently hot that have remarkably grown their dividend payments in recent years. These are International Business Machines (NYSE: IBMmore »)

  • Dun & Bradstreet Gets A Poor Rating

    By Marshall Hargrave - February 21, 2013 | Tickers: ACXM, CLGX, EFX, FICO, MCO, DNB

    Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB) tanked earlier this month after posting fourth quarter numbers below Wall Street expectations, which was a result of weakness in its North American business. D&B's stock fell more than 7%, but I think it's worth taking a look at the company to see if it could be a buy on the weakness (check out the hedge funds owning Dun & Bradstreet). However, I have more »

  • Credit Companies I'm Dubious About

    By Chris Hodge - February 4, 2013 | Tickers: CSH, EFX, FSC

    Financial services companies, and credit companies in particular, have to walk a crazy path. On the one hand, they've got to make money for their employees and shareholders. But on the other hand, they have a lot of rules they have to abide by despite the disadvantages that these rules impose. I don't envy their position, but I am out to see if they can make their money more »

  • Reviewing My Portfolio

    By Lee Samaha - January 2, 2013 | Tickers: ADBE, AZO, CGNX, EFX, MJN

    At the end of every month I like to review quarterly performance and discuss some of the stocks that I researched entering into the quarter. It’s a useful activity for me because it helps me analyze what I am doing right and wrong; I hope readers find it interesting too. Performance was good in the quarter with a 16.5% gain resulting in 80.1% for the year. I more »

  • A Portfolio for 2013 Part I

    By Lee Samaha - December 29, 2012 | Tickers: ADBE, EFX, INTU, TJX, WSM

    It’s almost the New Year and it’s time to pause and think about what we are all doing with our portfolios. In this regard I’ve been trying to find a way to update my own portfolio. I’m a great believer that people that write about investment should actually invest and disclose what, why and how they are doing themselves. For anyone interested, my New Year resolution more »

  • Is This Industry About To Disappoint Investors?

    By Lee Samaha - December 6, 2012 | Tickers: AAP, AZO, DFS, EFX, ORLY

    I’ve contributed a few articles recently discussing the nature of investing and what investors should look for with stocks. In summary I think our success as investors depends upon the ability to identify the salient factors that move a company’s stock price. AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) is a great example to look at in this respect and I will do so with reference to its latest results. What moves more »

  • Activist Investor: Moody’s is in the ‘Fifth Inning’ of a Nine-Inning Game

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - November 13, 2012 | Tickers: EFX, MCO, MORN, DNB, TRI

    At the 2012 Invest for Kids conference, Jeff Ubben of ValueAct Capital made two financial stock recommendations, with one being the credit rating company Moody’s (NYSE: MCO). Ubben really likes Moody's business model, saying about the business: "What a model this is...Moody's monitoring fees they get paid to monitor debt, like the maintenance fees for a software company, are almost 60% of the company." Ubben founded more »

  • A Bunch of Stocks Set to Benefit from Stronger Credit Issuance

    By Lee Samaha - October 29, 2012 | Tickers: DFS, EFX, HD, JWN, WFC

    One of things that the Motley Fool is trying to encourage investors to do is to dig deep into underlying industry or economic trends and see how that impacts specific stocks and investment ideas. In this post I’m going to give my take on current economic conditions with a focus on consumer credit because I believe conditions are getting better within the US -- but not for the reasons that more »

  • A Stock Set to Benefit From QE3

    By Lee Samaha - September 19, 2012 | Tickers: ADP, EFX, FICO, PAYX

    Here we go again. Another round of QE and another pop at stimulating the economy by pumping liquidity into it and keeping interest rates low. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong but what I am saying is that it is usually a good idea not to fight the Fed and try to invest in line with what they are doing. With that more »

  • LifeLock Unlocks Equity

    By Gerelyn Terzo - September 11, 2012 | Tickers: CHKP, EFX

    Proactive identity theft blocker LifeLock filed an S-1 with the SEC last month. We've all seen the commercials - CEO Todd Davis plasters his very own social security number across the side of an advertising truck and then proceeds to identify his association with the number to passers-by while distributing pamphlets with the same information.

    Clearly, he's trying to make a point about how vulnerable individuals without LifeLock really more »

  • How Equifax's Results Read Across the Market

    By Lee Samaha - April 30, 2012 | Tickers: ADP, EFX, FICO, PAYX, WFC

    Essentially, the recovery theory goes like this. Interest rates are cut, which encourages consumption, that leads to growth, and creates demand for loans, then the banks start lending again as they see employment gains and better credit quality ensues. Then we have the icing on the cake of a recovery.

    All said, if you believe in the ongoing recovery, then the primary credit bureaus should be set for significant upside more »

  • Does Housing and Credit Still Offer Growth Prospects?

    By Lee Samaha - April 16, 2012 | Tickers: BAC, EFX, HD, LOW, WFC | Editor's Choice

    Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan gave results on Friday and, although they both beat estimates, the market immediately greeted them with a 3%+ markdown. The key interest for long term market investors is to discern from these numbers, how the US economic recovery is faring.

    In particular, Wells Fargo is a key barometer of US household finances and, the housing market. As the largest mortgage originator in the more »

  • FICO, Vantage and Plus...Oh My! How to Know Your Credit Score

    By Angelique Andrae - March 14, 2012 | Tickers: EFX, FICO

    Do you know your credit scores from all three reporting agencies? Are you looking at your FICO score, the VantageScore or the Plus Score? If you’re not sure, or you’re not looking at all three, you may be in for a rude awakening the next time you need to borrow or refinance. If you’re only looking at one of your scores and your lender is looking at more »