Summit Financial LLC Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 44,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $453,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.4 %

DFS stock opened at $138.12 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $147.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $34.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

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.