Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 32.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $175.89 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $96.46 and a 52 week high of $188.26. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.88. The company has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DFS. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,202,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.