Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Announces $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd.

Discover Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Discover Financial Services has a payout ratio of 21.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $13.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $124.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.69 and a 200-day moving average of $105.66. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on DFS shares. HSBC upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.94.

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.