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

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. HSBC lifted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 5.7 %

DFS opened at $130.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.77. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a market cap of $32.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its 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). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 238.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 10,418 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,532 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. 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; 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.