Discovery Capital Management LLC CT Buys New Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 140,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,408,000. Discover Financial Services comprises about 1.7% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DFS. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 7.7 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $170.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.07 and a 200-day moving average of $170.62.

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 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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; 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.