Zacks Research Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for DFS

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) – Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Discover Financial Services in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, March 4th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now expects that the financial services provider will earn $3.34 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.33. The consensus estimate for Discover Financial Services’ current full-year earnings is $13.88 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Discover Financial Services’ FY2027 earnings at $17.42 EPS.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $172.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.31 and a 1 year high of $205.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $2,415,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 45,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after purchasing an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.