Sabal Trust CO Takes $200,000 Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sabal Trust CO purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.0% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $21,169,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 22.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 23.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,906,000 after acquiring an additional 3,949 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE DFS opened at $190.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $47.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $205.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $187.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

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; 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.