Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $188.91.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DFS. TD Securities decreased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $188.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised Discover Financial Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $188.20 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $119.95 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $168.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.75.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.92. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $515,268,000 after buying an additional 826,287 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16,786.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 784,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,891,000 after purchasing an additional 779,721 shares during the period. Finally, Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,867,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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; 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.