Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 1,162 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 76.1% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 83.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.53.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $86.95 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $122.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.44.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.18 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.23% and a net margin of 18.39%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.54 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 22nd 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 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.77%.

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.