Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.29.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DFS. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a "peer perform" rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 31,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 2,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $484,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $124.30. 1,977,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,021,584. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $125.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.35. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The stock has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

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; private student loans, 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.