Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price Down 6.7% – Should You Sell?

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) fell 6.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $175.53 and last traded at $177.48. 796,132 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 1,340,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $189.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Pension Service grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,202,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $239,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,415,000. 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; 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.