Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 112 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $91,044,000. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 67.1% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,606,000 after buying an additional 192,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $182.68 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.19 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $153.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.24.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

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.