Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $135.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $33.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $133.92 and its 200 day moving average is $127.51.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 143.6% in the second quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,097,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth $476,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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; 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.