Connors Investor Services Inc. Grows Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Connors Investor Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $322,199,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,637 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $121,113,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Monday, July 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,516,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,303. The company has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $127.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.40. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $147.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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.