Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Upgraded by Barclays to “Overweight” Rating

Barclays upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has $186.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $137.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.86.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $178.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after buying an additional 80,601 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently 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.