StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a report released on Saturday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on DFS. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DFS opened at $148.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.08. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $152.90. The firm has a market cap of $37.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after buying an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Finally, Forge First Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,341,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by 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; 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.