Capital One Financial (COF) Competitors

American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, AXP or COF?

American Express has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capital One Financial has a beta of 1.13, indicating that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor AXP or COF?

In the previous week, Capital One Financial had 41 more articles in the media than American Express. MarketBeat recorded 78 mentions for Capital One Financial and 37 mentions for American Express. American Express' average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat Capital One Financial's score of 0.58 indicating that American Express is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Express	31 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Capital One Financial	37 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	5 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AXP or COF?

Capital One Financial received 93 more outperform votes than American Express when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.47% of users gave Capital One Financial an outperform vote while only 59.84% of users gave American Express an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
American Express	Outperform Votes 1201 59.84%	Underperform Votes 806 40.16%
Capital One Financial	Outperform Votes 1294 64.47%	Underperform Votes 713 35.53%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in AXP or COF?

84.3% of American Express shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Capital One Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Express shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Capital One Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is AXP or COF a better dividend stock?

American Express pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Capital One Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. American Express pays out 22.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Capital One Financial pays out 20.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. American Express has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Capital One Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend AXP or COF?

American Express presently has a consensus target price of $295.05, indicating a potential downside of 0.26%. Capital One Financial has a consensus target price of $207.73, indicating a potential upside of 6.04%. Given Capital One Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Capital One Financial is more favorable than American Express.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Express	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Capital One Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89

Is AXP or COF more profitable?

American Express has a net margin of 15.36% compared to Capital One Financial's net margin of 9.46%. American Express' return on equity of 32.65% beat Capital One Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Express	15.36%	32.65%	3.56%
Capital One Financial	9.46%	9.45%	1.17%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AXP or COF?

American Express has higher revenue and earnings than Capital One Financial. Capital One Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Express	$67.12B	3.09	$10.13B	$14.32	20.66
Capital One Financial	$39.71B	1.89	$4.75B	$11.91	16.45

Summary

American Express and Capital One Financial tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.