Discover Financial Services Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DFS)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 30,471 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 859% compared to the typical volume of 3,179 put options.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 7.5 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $158.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $119.31 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.71. The stock has a market cap of $39.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $38,489,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,202,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.40.

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; 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.