Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 648 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.2 %

DFS opened at $196.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.98. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $109.50 and a one year high of $205.76. The stock has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given 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 (DPR) is 17.54%.

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.