Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $191.64.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $188.00 to $184.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $190.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,024,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,643,602. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $119.95 and a one year high of $205.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.92. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,151,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,317,582,000 after acquiring an additional 106,416 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,240,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,082,826,000 after purchasing an additional 165,589 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $724,720,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $515,268,000 after buying an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

About Discover Financial Services

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.