Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note issued on Friday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $127.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $131.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.38.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 13,623 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 97,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 13,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.