Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $192.40.

DFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

DFS opened at $164.90 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.18 and its 200-day moving average is $168.86. The company has a market cap of $41.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 36,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,176,000 after buying an additional 2,880 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,965,000 after buying an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently 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.