Certuity LLC Makes New Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Certuity LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 37,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,172,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 9,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 202,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,778,000 after purchasing an additional 17,171 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 19,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,912,000 after buying an additional 1,430,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of DFS opened at $123.58 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $30.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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; 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.