OLD National Bancorp IN Boosts Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 3rd, 2023

OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS – Free Report) by 34.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,279 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Prudential PLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 16,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 9,382 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 27,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 83.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS opened at $116.85 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.00 and its 200-day moving average is $105.14. The stock has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $87.64 and a twelve month high of $119.91.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS – Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.84 by ($0.26). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 24.65% and a return on equity of 31.30%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 19th that permits the company to buyback $2.70 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 9.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Discover Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 25th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Discover Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 18.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $111.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.67.

About Discover Financial Services

(Free Report)

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.