Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note issued on Saturday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, HSBC raised 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $130.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $124.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.86. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by 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; 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.