Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Has $523,000 Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 33.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 13,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 311.3% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 8,228 shares in the last quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter worth approximately $9,832,000. Invesco LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 7.4% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 6,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DFS. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS traded up $2.09 on Thursday, hitting $142.35. 303,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,890. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.44.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.53%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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; 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.