Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $150.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $145.00 to $150.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Sunday, July 7th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $129.78.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $131.48 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $133.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $125.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.13.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The firm 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 company posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 238.7% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 10,418 shares during the period. 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. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,073,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 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.