Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Makes New Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DFS. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 106,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,012,000 after purchasing an additional 43,815 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 153.4% during the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 61,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,892,000 after buying an additional 37,114 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 21,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DFS traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.93. 1,915,292 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,730,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $132.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.13. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The stock has a market cap of $33.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. Discover Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

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.