Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

DFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $146.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.23. The stock has a market cap of $36.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $152.90.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 4,478 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,835,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forge First Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $13,341,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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; 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.