Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $188.35 and last traded at $186.88, with a volume of 176287 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $180.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $176.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.67.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 14.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.