Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.41 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41, Briefing.com reports. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $147.54 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $149.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $136.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.88.

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.