Independence Bank of Kentucky Raises Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 141.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,662,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,615,000 after buying an additional 50,588 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,577,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452,811 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 5,121,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,023,000 after purchasing an additional 293,924 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,260 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $340,672,000. 83.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $119.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Piper Sandler lowered Discover Financial Services from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Discover Financial Services from $128.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.13.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $89.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.21. The stock has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.22, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $87.45 and a 1-year high of $122.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 29.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.40%.

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; 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.