Brokerages Set Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target at $132.94

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $132.94.

Several research firms recently issued reports on DFS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. 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 report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 9,287 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $983,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after acquiring an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after buying an additional 23,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $139.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $34.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $147.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $134.48 and its 200 day moving average is $129.16.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 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.