Patron Partners LLC Grows Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter worth $26,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 72.5% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 348.2% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of DFS stock traded down $3.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $128.68. 1,008,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,699,962. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $134.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.67.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted 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. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.