Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Discover Financial Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Wolfe Research restated a peer perform rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $122.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.78. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after acquiring an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 238.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 10,418 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after acquiring an additional 19,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; private student loans, 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.