Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.29.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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, April 19th.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.6 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $127.70 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $131.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during 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 last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid 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 31.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.