Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given New $163.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target upped by Evercore ISI from $156.00 to $163.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.53.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $154.44 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $139.87 and a 200-day moving average of $132.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $81.09 and a twelve month high of $157.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter valued at about $917,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $228,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 16,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $328,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.