BankPlus Trust Department Buys New Shares in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $406,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 49,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,519,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of DFS opened at $193.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.95.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.