Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Boosts Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 33.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 238.7% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 14,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 10,418 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,532 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,073,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 9,287 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $142.35. The stock had a trading volume of 303,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,824,890. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.94. The stock has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.07. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BTIG Research started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

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.