Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,445 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,046,000 after buying an additional 475,579 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,891,000 after purchasing an additional 217,475 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,968,000 after purchasing an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Saturday, June 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE DFS traded down $3.02 on Friday, hitting $129.04. 563,144 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $133.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $125.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

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.