Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $232.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $170.00 to $232.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.13.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $176.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $44.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.13. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $96.46 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.0% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 68,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 27,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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; 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.