Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $156.00 at Evercore ISI

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $156.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on DFS. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued a hold rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $133.88.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $141.74 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 147.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 348.2% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 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.