Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Short Interest Update

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a growth of 14.7% from the June 15th total of 2,310,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at $34,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.78.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

DFS stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.52. 2,361,527 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,836,523. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.44. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $143.47.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $3.09. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.59 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 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.