Bank of Nova Scotia Has $97.25 Million Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 208.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 561,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 379,673 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.22% of Discover Financial Services worth $97,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 92.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,324 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $515,268,000 after purchasing an additional 826,287 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,553,016 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,308,409,000 after purchasing an additional 59,154 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $13,057,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $156.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,581,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.09. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $39.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

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Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven research 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, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $188.40.

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.