Lynch & Associates IN Purchases 208 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lynch & Associates IN lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kerusso Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $3,748,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3,445.0% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 62.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.8% in the second quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 350.7% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 124,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,293,000 after acquiring an additional 96,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Sunday, September 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $128.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; private student loans, 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.