Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Rating Increased to Overweight at Barclays

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm presently has a $186.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $137.00. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DFS. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.86.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $176.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.98. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $96.46 and a 52 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after buying an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.