Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note released on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.0 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $141.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $35.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $147.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.07.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released 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. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.53%. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at $26,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.