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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

DFS opened at $125.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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; 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.