EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys Stock Under $10 that he thinks could potentially double or triple in the next 6 to 12-months. See what he's trading today with a 14-day FREE pass.

Reprint Email

Discover Financial Services (DFS): Today's Featured Financial Services Laggard

By TheStreet Wire 02/12/13 - 05:01 PM EST

Find out if (DFS) is in Cramer's Portfolio.

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) pushed the Financial Services industry lower today making it today's featured Financial Services laggard. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.4%. By the end of trading, Discover Financial Services fell 55 cents (-1.4%) to $39.48 on average volume. Throughout the day, 5.1 million shares of Discover Financial Services exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 5.2 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $39.46-$40.17 after having opened the day at $39.99 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $40.03. Other companies within the Financial Services industry that declined today were: Millennium India Acquisition Corporation (SMCG), down 8.4%, First Marblehead Corporation (FMD), down 6%, Community Bankers Trust Corporation (BTC), down 4.2%, and US Global Investors (GROW), down 2.7%.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys Stocks Under $10 that he thinks could potentially double. See what he's trading today with a 14-day FREE pass.

Discover Financial Services, a bank holding company, offers direct banking and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Direct Banking and Payment Services. Discover Financial Services has a market cap of $19.84 billion and is part of the financial sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 8.9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 3.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday. Currently there are 14 analysts that rate Discover Financial Services a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and five rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Discover Financial Services as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income, revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

You can view the full Discover Financial Services Ratings Report.

On the positive front, Regional Management (RM), up 5.5%, ProShares Ultra KBW Regional Banking (KRU), up 4.4%, Westwood Holdings Group (WHG), up 3.9%, and Asset Acceptance Capital Corporation (AACC), up 3.5%, were all gainers within the financial services industry with Morgan Stanley (MS) being today's featured financial services industry leader.

Use our financial services section to find industry-relevant news.
Or find some new ideas from our top rated stocks lists.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the financial services industry could consider Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) while those bearish on the financial services industry could consider Proshares Short Financials (SEF).

Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

It's Official: Action Alerts PLUS beats the S&P 500 with Dividends Reinvested! Cramer and Link were up 16.72% in 2012. Were you? See what they are trading for 14-days FREE.

For more information on Discover Financial Services click any of the following:

Jim Cramer and Stephanie Link actively manage a real portfolio and reveal their money management tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.

Product Features:

$2.5+ million portfolio
Large-cap and dividend focus
Intraday trade alerts from Cramer
Weekly roundups

TheStreet Quant Ratings

TRY IT FREE

New! $49.95/yr

Access the tool that DOMINATES the Russell 2000 and the S&P 500.

Product Features:

Buy, hold, or sell recommendations for over 4,300 stocks
Unlimited research reports on your favorite stocks
A custom stock screener
Upgrade/downgrade alerts

Stocks Under $10

TRY IT FREE

David Peltier, uncovers low dollar stocks with extraordinary upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.

Product Features:

Model portfolio
Stocks trading below $10
Intraday trade alerts
Weekly roundups

Dividend Stock Advisor

TRY IT FREE

Jim Cramer's protege, David Peltier, identifies the best of breed dividend stocks that will pay a reliable AND significant income stream.

Product Features:

Diversified model portfolio of dividend stocks
Alerts when market news affect the portfolio
Bi-weekly updates with exact steps to take - BUY, HOLD, SELL

Real Money Pro

TRY IT FREE

All of Real Money, plus 15 more of Wall Street's sharpest minds delivering actionable trading ideas, a comprehensive look at the market, and fundamental and technical analysis.

Product Features:

Real Money + Doug Kass + 15 more Wall Street Pros
Intraday commentary & news
Ultra-actionable trading ideas

Options Profits

TRY IT FREE

Our options trading pros provide daily market commentary and over 100 monthly option trading ideas and strategies to help you become a well-seasoned trader.