Equifax vs First Advantage
EFX and FA side by side. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How EFX and FA compare
Equifax is the larger company, worth 5.8 times as much as First Advantage ($21.7B against $3.7B).
On earnings, Equifax is cheaper: it trades at 32.4× trailing earnings, against 154× for First Advantage.
First Advantage grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (32.9% versus 10.3% for Equifax).
Equifax keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 10.7% compared with 1.5% at First Advantage.
Equifax pays a dividend yielding 1.2%; First Advantage does not pay one.
Equifax scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 8 for First Advantage), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | EFX | FA |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $21.7B | $3.7B |
| Share price | $184.60 | $21.59 |
| Change, 1 year | −13.9% | 64.2% |
| Change, 5 years | −35.1% | 2.6% |
| Beta (5Y) | 1.26 | 1.33 |
| Employees | 15K | 9,500 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 8 |
| Valuation score | 3 (better) | 1 |
| Growth score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 3 | 3 |
| Health score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 0 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 32.4× (better) | 154× |
| P/S | 3.4× | 2.2× (better) |
| P/B | 5.0× | 2.9× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.3× (better) | 19.0× |
| P/FCF | 19.6× | 14.9× (better) |
| FCF yield | 5.1% | 6.7% (better) |
| Fair value | $193.59 | $12.42 |
| Margin of safety | 4.6% (better) | −73.8% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 10.3% | 32.9% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.0% | – |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 8.1% | – |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 11.4% | – |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 4.6% | – |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 55.5% | – |
| Operating margin | 17.9% (better) | 10.7% |
| Net margin | 10.7% (better) | 1.5% |
| FCF margin | 17.1% (better) | 15.0% |
| Return on equity | 14.6% (better) | 1.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 8.7% (better) | 3.8% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.25 (better) | 1.57 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.80 (better) | 6.20 |
| Interest coverage | 5.2× | – |
| Current ratio | 0.60 | 2.53 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 3.27 (better) | 1.54 |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 (better) | 4 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.2% | – |
| Payout ratio | 37.0% | – |
| Years of dividend growth | 1 | – |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 3.9% | – |
| Buyback yield | 6.3% | – |
| Shareholder yield | 7.5% (better) | 0.00% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 102% | 116% |
| Held by insiders | 0.72% | – |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$25.4M (better) | −$276M |
| Superinvestors holding | 5 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 4.5% | – |
Go deeper
- EFX stock overview
- EFX income statement
- EFX valuation and score
- FA stock overview
- FA income statement
- FA valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.