StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

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

DFS has been the topic of several other reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a peer perform rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $127.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.50. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 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.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.9% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings 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. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake 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 worth $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,184,000 after purchasing an additional 72,452 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.