Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $2.84 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,489,000. 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 worth $16,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DFS shares. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $164.67 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $119.31 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.