JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $150.00 to $146.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on DFS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of DFS stock traded up $5.42 on Tuesday, reaching $181.10. 1,051,213 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,260,439. The company has a market capitalization of $45.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business's 50 day moving average price is $175.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 3,445.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 5,822 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at about $266,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.6% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $342,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.