Leavell Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,450 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 130.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,917,000 after purchasing an additional 16,905 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 272,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,646,000 after buying an additional 69,896 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 80.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 99,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,984,000 after buying an additional 44,290 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $181.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $82.68 and a one year high of $188.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $143.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.29. The company has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

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.