Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 178 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $239,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $2,415,000. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $163.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $188.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.