LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 190 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

LS Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter worth about $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter worth about $4,835,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $175.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $142.21 and its 200-day moving average is $133.60. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $82.15 and a 1-year high of $188.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

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; 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.