Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 128.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,529 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Creative Planning grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,045,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $196.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $109.50 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $184.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.98.

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, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.