Jefferies Financial Group Increases Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target to $145.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $137.00 to $145.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $125.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $131.65. The stock has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 119,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,661,000 after purchasing an additional 55,630 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $202,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 16,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $917,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.