Capital International Inc. CA Increases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 237,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,205 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $41,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $351,766,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,268,000 after purchasing an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 208.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 561,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $97,252,000 after purchasing an additional 379,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 2.3 %

DFS stock opened at $159.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.95 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $171.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.34.

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

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $188.40.

Discover Financial Services 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.