Seaport Res Ptn Research Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Discover Financial Services in a research note issued to investors on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst W. Ryan now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $14.75 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $14.95. Seaport Res Ptn currently has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Discover Financial Services’ current full-year earnings is $11.34 per share.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $129.30 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.72. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 282.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.