GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Purchases 37,114 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 153.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,114 shares during the quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102,119 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,652,000 after acquiring an additional 238,498 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 30.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,473,000 after acquiring an additional 526,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 42.3% in the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,429,000 after acquiring an additional 399,209 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $125.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.48. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company 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 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services 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.