Cooke & Bieler LP Grows Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services comprises about 1.6% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $167,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 9,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 34,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 13,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Lincoln National Corp grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 10,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 233,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,700,850. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $147.61. The company has a market cap of $34.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

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; 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.