Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $207.64 and last traded at $206.98, with a volume of 268321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Capital One Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upgraded Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $235.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America cut Capital One Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $203.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Capital One Financial from $185.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, HSBC raised Capital One Financial from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Capital One Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.31.

Capital One Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $187.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.67. The firm has a market cap of $77.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.31. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $10.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. Capital One Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Capital One Financial Co. will post 15.4 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Capital One Financial’s payout ratio is 20.71%.

Insider Activity at Capital One Financial

In other Capital One Financial news, insider Kara West sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.73, for a total transaction of $133,190.33. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,388,374.17. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Daniel Mouadeb sold 1,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.37, for a total value of $323,765.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,211,029.12. This represents a 9.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,256 shares of company stock worth $2,462,487 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Capital One Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,506,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,471,572,000 after purchasing an additional 74,784 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Capital One Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,387,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,649,488,000 after acquiring an additional 280,462 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,694,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,451,527,000 after acquiring an additional 72,097 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,020,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,664,000 after acquiring an additional 159,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Capital One Financial by 21.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,640,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169,395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

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.