Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $4,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 459 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 116,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 29,900 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,870,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,489,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $191.91.

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Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $167.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $189.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.87. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The company has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 17.54%.

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; 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.

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