Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 4,920 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $9,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus upgraded Discover Financial Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 4.2 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $190.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $119.95 and a 12-month high of $205.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.92. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Profile

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.