Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 671,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 104,460 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $93,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,266,000 after buying an additional 4,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of DFS opened at $182.59 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.19 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services 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.