Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Up 5% – Here’s Why

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)’s stock price shot up 5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $167.39 and last traded at $166.67. 487,689 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 1,502,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.89. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. CIBRA Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,855,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,571,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $22,171,000. 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; 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.