M&G Plc Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

M&G Plc raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 488,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,119 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $64,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 15.8% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 21.7% in the second quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,247,000 after acquiring an additional 3,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 45,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,890,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE DFS traded up $2.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $126.62. 567,216 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,763,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $31.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.52. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services 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.