Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Down 6.7% – Here’s What Happened

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)’s stock price was down 6.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $175.53 and last traded at $177.48. Approximately 796,132 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 1,340,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 6.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $189.13 and a 200-day moving average of $166.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after purchasing an additional 56,814 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,202,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,415,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.