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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on 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. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research reiterated a peer perform rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:DFS traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.04. The company had a trading volume of 811,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,064. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued 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). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102,119 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,199,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in 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 valued at $227,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,637 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $121,113,000. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $81,865,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.