Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $1.88 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88), Briefing.com reports. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DFS traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.35. 1,548,721 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,126,981. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $131.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 274.6% during the first quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.94.

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.