Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on DFS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BTIG Research began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Thirteen 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 has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $132.97 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $133.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.86. The firm has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued 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). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% in the 4th 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 boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 1st 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. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors 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.