Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $149.57.

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 147.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 348.2% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $173.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $43.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $96.46 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.14.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

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.