Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $37.35 Million Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 62.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 478,551 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Discover Financial Services worth $37,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.3% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $138.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.81. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $147.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.94.

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; 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.