Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Declares $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd.

Discover Financial Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Discover Financial Services has a payout ratio of 21.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $13.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $124.27 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.69 and its 200-day moving average is $105.66.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $340,672,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 489.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660,180 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,260 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 51.2% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,636,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,801,000 after purchasing an additional 554,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,297,000 after purchasing an additional 506,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Twelve investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.94.

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.