Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $154.86.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 506.5% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 147.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 348.2% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $178.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.39 and its 200-day moving average is $149.34. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $96.46 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

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; 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.