RFG Advisory LLC Decreases Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

RFG Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 433 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,046,000 after buying an additional 475,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,891,000 after buying an additional 217,475 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. HSBC boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $126.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.04. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. 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.