LSV Asset Management Lowers Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

LSV Asset Management cut its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,484,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95,922 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.59% of Discover Financial Services worth $257,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,377,961,000 after purchasing an additional 290,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,553,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,308,409,000 after acquiring an additional 59,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,240,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,082,826,000 after acquiring an additional 165,589 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $724,720,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,268,000 after acquiring an additional 826,287 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $171.21 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $177.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.56. The stock has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.31 and a 1 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.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.