JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.13.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.3 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $176.83 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $96.46 and a 52-week high of $188.26. The company has a market cap of $44.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.13.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,415,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,954,000 after purchasing an additional 16,863 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by 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.