Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Announces $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd.

Discover Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Discover Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 21.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $13.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,548,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,249,785. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $122.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $482,042,000 after buying an additional 1,293,260 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $340,672,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 13.8% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,150,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $251,283,000 after buying an additional 261,306 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,089,251 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $234,832,000 after buying an additional 307,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 489.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $220,307,000 after buying an additional 1,660,180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

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.