Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.98 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98, Zacks reports. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 22.08%.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $197.98 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $177.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $99.07 and a one year high of $198.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Barclays raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.