New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Invests $34,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 76.7% in the 1st quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS traded down $7.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $129.09. 1,556,750 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,801,619. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services 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; 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.