Discover Financial Services (DFS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 on June 6th

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd.

Discover Financial Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Discover Financial Services has a payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Discover Financial Services to earn $13.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.7 %

DFS opened at $124.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $121.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.21%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $340,672,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 489.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,180 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,260 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 51.2% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,636,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,801,000 after purchasing an additional 554,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 67.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,297,000 after purchasing an additional 506,801 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.