Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.33.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BTIG Research began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 10,418 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $1,073,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 9,287 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $126.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $31.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.