Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research report sent to investors on Monday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider's stock.

DFS has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Discover Financial Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. HSBC raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Discover Financial Services from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a peer perform rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DFS traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $124.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 698,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,228. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $125.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.