Short Interest in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Increases By 16.2%

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,440,000 shares, a growth of 16.2% from the January 15th total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock traded up $6.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $196.14. 1,238,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,519,959. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $184.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.98. The stock has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $109.50 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

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.