Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.1 %

DFS stock opened at $175.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $183.24 and its 200-day moving average is $170.92.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Discover Financial Services

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.