Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on DFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $143.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $134.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $322,199,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares during the period. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $91,044,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at about $71,693,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Discover Financial Services

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.