Seven Eight Capital LP Acquires Shares of 13,597 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,779,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Optas LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.3% in the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $136.11 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $147.61. The company has a market cap of $34.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.31.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.54 EPS. Discover Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Barclays upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

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; 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.