Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $191.91.

DFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $223,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 4,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $235,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $187.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $205.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $187.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.38.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

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; 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.