Brokerages Set Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) PT at $138.81

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $138.81.

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $172.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.74. The firm has a market cap of $43.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $85.19 and a 1 year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invst LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 27,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,820,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 126,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 24,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.