Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Discover Financial Services worth $23,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after acquiring an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $173.22 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $85.19 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $148.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.60%.

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.