Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.29.

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $127.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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; 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.