Banco Santander S.A. Takes Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

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 buying an additional 56,814 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,415,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $179.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $85.19 and a one year high of $188.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.73.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.