Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $1.88 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88), Briefing.com reports. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $119.93 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $131.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.22.

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; 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.