Vestcor Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 787.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,496 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $163.71 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $119.31 and a 12-month high of $205.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.66.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business 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 is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

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; 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.