Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $133.90 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.14. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $147.61. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. 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 (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Profile

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.