Vicus Capital Acquires 99 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Vicus Capital increased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.5% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. LB Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.5% in the third quarter. LB Partners LLC now owns 46,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,502,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 9.8% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 189,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,650,000 after buying an additional 16,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 74.3% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $145.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.37. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $152.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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; 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.