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 6.0 times as much as First Advantage ($22.0B against $3.7B).
On earnings, Equifax is cheaper: it trades at 30.4× trailing earnings, against 86.2× for First Advantage.
First Advantage grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (17.7% versus 10.9% for Equifax).
Equifax keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 11.3% compared with 2.5% at First Advantage.
Equifax pays a dividend yielding 1.2%; First Advantage does not pay one.
Equifax scores higher on the StockData Score (18 against 9 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 | $22.0B | $3.7B |
| Share price | $188.41 | $21.55 |
| Change, 1 year | −9.8% | 63.5% |
| Change, 5 years | −34.8% | 16.4% |
| Beta (5Y) | 1.24 | 1.29 |
| Employees | 15K | 9,500 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 18 (better) | 9 |
| Valuation score | 3 (better) | 2 |
| Growth score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Health score | 5 (better) | 1 |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 0 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 30.4× (better) | 86.2× |
| P/S | 3.3× | 2.2× (better) |
| P/B | 4.9× | 2.8× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.6× (better) | 17.7× |
| P/FCF | 20.0× | 15.6× (better) |
| FCF yield | 5.0% | 6.4% (better) |
| Fair value | $232.50 | $15.41 |
| Margin of safety | 19.0% (better) | −39.8% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 10.9% | 17.7% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.0% | – |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 12.8% | – |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 17.5% | – |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 4.6% | – |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 55.2% | – |
| Operating margin | 18.8% (better) | 11.4% |
| Net margin | 11.3% (better) | 2.5% |
| FCF margin | 16.7% (better) | 13.8% |
| Return on equity | 15.8% (better) | 3.3% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.5% (better) | 4.2% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.16 (better) | 1.50 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.51 (better) | 5.69 |
| Interest coverage | 5.4× | – |
| Current ratio | 1.09 | 2.45 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 3.51 (better) | 1.59 |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 (better) | 4 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.2% | – |
| Payout ratio | 35.0% | – |
| Years of dividend growth | 1 | – |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 3.9% | – |
| Buyback yield | 5.2% (better) | 1.0% |
| Shareholder yield | 6.4% (better) | 1.0% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 102% | 116% |
| Held by insiders | 0.69% | – |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$32.5M (better) | −$276M |
| Superinvestors holding | 5 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 4.9% | – |
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.