Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $193.00 to $210.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.57.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $201.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $101.71 and a 52-week high of $204.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 58.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 92,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,096,000 after acquiring an additional 34,226 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 48,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,288,000 after purchasing an additional 18,215 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 141.5% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,867,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 588.8% in the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 17,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.