Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98, Zacks reports. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.7 %

DFS opened at $200.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $177.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.68. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $99.79 and a twelve month high of $204.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Barclays raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.71.

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.