JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target to $135.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $132.00 to $135.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on DFS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. HSBC raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.8 %

DFS opened at $141.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. Discover Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 216,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,798,000 after purchasing an additional 37,466 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $242,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.