UBS Group Upgrades Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) to Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $239.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $150.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.00.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $176.06 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $96.46 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after buying an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.