Short Interest in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Rises By 5.5%

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,310,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the May 31st total of 2,190,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 238.7% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 10,418 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $1,073,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $1.48 on Wednesday, reaching $132.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 897,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,883. The company has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $133.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $125.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; 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.