Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives $149.57 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $149.57.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth $453,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 44,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 5.9% in the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $174.20. 867,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,638,764. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The business's 50-day moving average is $172.33 and its 200-day moving average is $148.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.