BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,264 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,693,000 after purchasing an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at $2,415,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,657,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of DFS traded down $1.80 on Tuesday, reaching $178.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,205,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,026. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $93.83 and a twelve month high of $188.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $158.30 and a 200-day moving average of $140.63.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.81.

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.