Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Raises Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DFS. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $196.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $109.50 and a twelve month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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.