Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.3 %

Discover Financial Services stock traded down $2.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $185.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,591,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,948. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $176.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.67. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 22.08%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 14.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,657,000 after buying an additional 13,427 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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; 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.