Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $126.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The stock has a market cap of $31.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.38.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.54 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $322,199,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,637 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $121,113,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $91,044,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.