Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

DFS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $149.14 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $82.15 and a 1 year high of $157.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.07.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter worth approximately $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.