Brokers Set Expectations for Discover Financial Services’ Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:DFS)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) – Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for Discover Financial Services in a report issued on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst S. Sakhrani now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $3.46 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.44. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Discover Financial Services’ current full-year earnings is $11.47 per share. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also issued estimates for Discover Financial Services’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.53 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.44 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.86 EPS.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Sunday, July 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.78.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.13. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $133.78. The company has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.44.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

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

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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.