Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.70 Million Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 15,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 180.0% during the fourth quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,240,500,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DFS. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.94.

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.