Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $233.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $175.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $174.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.06. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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; 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.