Discover Financial Services (DFS) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 17th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $3.03 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.96). The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.24%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect Discover Financial Services to post $11 EPS for the current fiscal year and $13 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $121.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.83 and a 200 day moving average of $105.19. The stock has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 24.89%.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 274.6% during the first quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.22.

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.