Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price Up 4.6%

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)’s share price traded up 4.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $131.09 and last traded at $129.43. 1,019,969 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 1,870,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 5.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $32.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for 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 period last year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued 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 2.14%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 238.7% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 10,418 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the 4th 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 Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $1,073,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after acquiring an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.