CWA Asset Management Group LLC Boosts Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,202,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.86.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $178.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.34. 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 has a 52-week low of $96.46 and a 52-week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

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.