New Century Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New Century Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 143.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 147.8% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 72.5% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 348.2% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $136.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $147.61. The company has a market capitalization of $34.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.