M&T Bank Corp Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,442 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 105.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DFS. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $123.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.29. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.86 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. 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.