Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research report report published on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $126.98 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.34 and its 200 day moving average is $117.79. The company has a market cap of $31.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,046,000 after acquiring an additional 475,579 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,891,000 after buying an additional 217,475 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.