CMC Financial Group Makes New Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

CMC Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000. Discover Financial Services comprises 0.5% of CMC Financial Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% during the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $164.90 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, equities 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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; 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.