Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.69% of Discover Financial Services worth $242,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Pension Service lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,415,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $179.29 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.29 and its 200 day moving average is $137.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $85.19 and a 52-week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.