Stifel analyst Shlomo Rosenbaum downgraded Equifax to Hold from Buy and cut his price target for the shares to $115 from $149. The stock closed Friday down 21c to $108.74.
The analyst expects the company to spend most of 2018 dealing with the impact of the cyber-security breach by making investments and rebuilding confidence. Rosenbaum does not see a near-term catalyst for the shares with Equifax’s growth likely not accelerating until 2019. The shares, while possibly attractive to longer term investors, are “likely dead money in the near term,” the analyst contends.