Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Sets New 1-Year High at $132.77

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $132.77 and last traded at $132.59, with a volume of 49762 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $130.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $33.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,123 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $12,685,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,666,000 after buying an additional 7,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 154.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,044,000 after buying an additional 41,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.