$3.14 Billion in Sales Expected for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) This Quarter

Analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) will post $3.14 billion in sales for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Nineteen analysts have issued estimates for Discover Financial Services’ earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $3.19 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $3.06 billion. Discover Financial Services posted sales of $3.58 billion during the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year-over-year growth rate of 12.3%. The company is scheduled to announce its next earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will report full-year sales of $12.60 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $12.27 billion to $12.96 billion. For the next year, analysts expect that the firm will post sales of $13.60 billion, with estimates ranging from $13.03 billion to $14.00 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Discover Financial Services.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 38.42% and a return on equity of 41.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.04 EPS.

Several research analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $154.00 to $157.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $144.00 to $127.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Friday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.76.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $366,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 11,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $381,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 7,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $112.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.92. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $98.38 and a 52 week high of $135.69.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 26th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from Discover Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 25th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 14.16%.

About Discover Financial Services (Get Rating)

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.

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