Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $185.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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 boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.36.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $176.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $172.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.82. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $96.46 and a twelve month high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in 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 in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,657,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427 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; 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.