Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Capital One hit a new 52-week high after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $260 to $290 and kept an outperform rating; shares traded up to $252.08 (last $252.96) on volume ~616,337.
• Analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $269.95, supported by multiple recent positive ratings (3 Strong Buy, 17 Buy, 7 Hold).
• Insiders have been net sellers—CEO Richard Fairbank sold 103,487 shares and insiders sold 278,218 shares (~$61.97M) over the past 90 days—while the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.80 (annualized $3.20) for a 1.3% yield despite a 135% payout ratio.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $290.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Capital One Financial traded as high as $252.08 and last traded at $252.9560, with a volume of 616337 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.93.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Capital One Financial in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Capital One Financial from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Capital One Financial in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Capital One Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $257.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $269.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Celia Karam sold 2,936 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.15, for a total transaction of $640,488.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 63,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,837,908.95. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard D. Fairbank sold 103,487 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.68, for a total transaction of $22,837,511.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,001,228 shares in the company, valued at $882,990,995.04. The trade was a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 278,218 shares of company stock worth $61,971,824. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Capital One Financial by 588,668.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 117,447,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,988,129,000 after buying an additional 117,427,549 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,537,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,018,671,000 after purchasing an additional 156,254 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 63.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,780,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,910,500,000 after purchasing an additional 10,776,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,008,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,970,628,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Capital One Financial by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,838,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,516,587,000 after buying an additional 1,339,215 shares in the last quarter. 89.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Capital One Financial Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $227.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.47.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $15.46 billion during the quarter. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 2.24% and a return on equity of 10.94%. On average, analysts forecast that Capital One Financial Corporation will post 15.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Capital One Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Capital One Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Capital One Financial's payout ratio is presently 135.02%.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corporation NYSE: COF is a diversified bank holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. The company's core businesses include credit card lending, consumer and commercial banking, and auto finance. Capital One issues a wide range of credit card products for consumers and small businesses, and it operates deposit and digital banking services aimed at retail customers and small to midsize enterprises.

Products and services include credit and charge cards, checking and savings accounts (including the online-focused Capital One 360 platform), auto loans, and commercial lending solutions.

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