Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,198,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,210 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.48% of Discover Financial Services worth $168,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 775.3% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 19,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 16,940 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,740,000 after purchasing an additional 25,602 shares during the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP now owns 67,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,508,000 after buying an additional 18,776 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 465.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,438,000 after buying an additional 8,436 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 69.5% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 3,489 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE DFS traded down $1.80 on Tuesday, hitting $178.31. 1,205,128 shares of the company were exchanged, 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. The company has a market cap of $44.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.66 and a 200-day moving average of $139.87. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $93.83 and a 12 month high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 22.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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