Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a report issued on Sunday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $148.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.70. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $157.06. The firm has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.