Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $133.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $133.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $322,199,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,637 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $121,113,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 336.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,133,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,220,000 after purchasing an additional 874,020 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after buying an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Company Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; private student loans, personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.