Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

DFS has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.6 %

DFS stock opened at $160.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.15. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76. The company has a market cap of $40.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.