Wall Street Zen Downgrades Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a recent report issued to clients.
• Despite the downgrade, other brokerages have updated their ratings: Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target to $255 and TD Cowen upgraded COF to a "buy" rating with a price target of $258.
• Capital One Financial reported a strong quarterly earning of $5.48 per share, significantly above analysts' estimates of $1.93, while revenues reached $12.49 billion, a 31.4% year-over-year increase.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on COF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Capital One Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $184.00 to $258.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $223.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Capital One Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $238.81.

Capital One Financial Price Performance

Shares of COF traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $208.32. The company had a trading volume of 3,108,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,087,181. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $133.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.83, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. Capital One Financial has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $232.45.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $3.55. The company had revenue of $12.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.72 billion. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Capital One Financial will post 15.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Capital One Financial's payout ratio is 123.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Capital One Financial news, insider Robert M. Alexander sold 10,114 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.86, for a total transaction of $2,304,576.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 68,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,655,577.02. This represents a 12.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ann F. Hackett sold 1,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.70, for a total transaction of $329,444.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,175,682.80. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,847 shares of company stock worth $5,696,173. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 166.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Capital One Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $830,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 101.6% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 18,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,030,000 after purchasing an additional 9,548 shares during the period. 89.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corporation operates as the financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association, which engages in the provision of various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking.