Federated Hermes Inc. Has $11.94 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 13th, 2023

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 744.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 106,453 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $11,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 9,382 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $482,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 5.2% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $103.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $87.64 and a 12-month high of $122.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $112.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.11.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 29.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 19.40%.

Discover Financial Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 19th that permits the company to repurchase $2.70 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 9.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Discover Financial Services from $119.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Discover Financial Services from $111.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services Company Profile

(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.