Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Announces $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd.

Discover Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Discover Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 18.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $12.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.8%.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS traded up $3.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $200.78. 1,705,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,535,343. The company’s 50-day moving average is $177.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.68. The company has a market cap of $50.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $99.79 and a 12-month high of $204.93.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 13.78%. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 14.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.71.

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.