Barclays upgrades Capital One and Discover to 'overweight' rating

Discover Financial Services

06/01/2025 13:16

** Barclays upgrades payment firms Capital One  COF.N  and
Discover Financial Services  DFS.N  to "overweight" from "equal
weight" rating
    ** Brokerage says likelihood of COF and DFS merger has
increased
    ** Barclays expects the merger to close in early 2025
    ** Last year in February, COF said it will acquire DFS in an
all-stock transaction valued at $35.3 bln 
    ** Even without the deal, the brokerage expects COF and DFS
to trade at the high end, helped by improving credit outlook and
built up of excess capital
    ** As of last close, COF and DFS stocks were up ~1.2% and
~1.6% YTD, respectively

 (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru)
 ((Prakhar.srivastava2@thomsonreuters.com))