Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $1.88 EPS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88), Briefing.com reports. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $125.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $122.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.90. The company has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DFS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. HSBC increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.