Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective hoisted by Evercore ISI from $156.00 to $163.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Sunday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $151.30 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $82.15 and a 52-week high of $157.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $37.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $140.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.71.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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; 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.