Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 500 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $1.75 on Tuesday, hitting $123.61. 714,809 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,122,051. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.29. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 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.