Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) Short Interest Update

Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,940,000 shares, a growth of 12.5% from the February 29th total of 10,610,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on COF shares. Wolfe Research raised Capital One Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Bank of America raised Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $112.00 to $129.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $159.00 target price on shares of Capital One Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Capital One Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $153.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Capital One Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $150.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Capital One Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.55.

Capital One Financial Price Performance

Shares of COF opened at $144.40 on Wednesday. Capital One Financial has a fifty-two week low of $83.93 and a fifty-two week high of $149.27. The company has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.26). Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.45 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Capital One Financial will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Capital One Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Capital One Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital One Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Capital One Financial by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,666,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,021,016,000 after purchasing an additional 131,400 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,255,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,863,000 after buying an additional 161,609 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,991,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,761,000 after buying an additional 311,696 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 25.7% in the second quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 12,471,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,957,000 after buying an additional 2,549,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,227,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,603,316,000 after buying an additional 1,745,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Capital One Financial Company Profile

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.