Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $137.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $135.00 to $137.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Monday, July 15th. They set a hold rating for the company. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a neutral rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $141.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.40. The stock has a market cap of $35.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm 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 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 111.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 25,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 27,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 68,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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; 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.