Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

DFS has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Discover Financial Services from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.57.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $201.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.82 and a 200-day moving average of $154.68. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $101.71 and a one year high of $204.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Flavin Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $937,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. 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.