Discover Financial Services Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 (NYSE:DFS)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%.

Discover Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Discover Financial Services has a payout ratio of 18.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $12.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.8%.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE DFS traded up $8.72 on Wednesday, reaching $197.98. 3,342,626 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,513,642. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $99.07 and a 12 month high of $198.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.37. The company has a market cap of $49.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 22.08%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 14.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.71.

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.