Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $184.88 and last traded at $180.35, with a volume of 55959 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $151.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $141.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.