StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a report released on Monday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on DFS. BTIG Research started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE DFS opened at $130.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $147.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $133.99 and its 200 day moving average is $127.89.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The company 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 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.54 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 238.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 10,418 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,000 after purchasing an additional 9,287 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $983,000. Finally, Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after purchasing an additional 251,909 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.