Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $1.88 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $122.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $199,000. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 7,460.0% in the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 1,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 380.1% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 1,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.94.

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.