Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 112 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,035,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 74.0% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 404,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,072,000 after purchasing an additional 36,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 122.6% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 6,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.9 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $182.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $45.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.26 and a 200-day moving average of $138.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $85.19 and a one year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

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.