Traders Purchase High Volume of Capital One Financial Call Options (NYSE:COF)

Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 27,311 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 180% compared to the average volume of 9,761 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $207.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Capital One Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Capital One Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $162.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $235.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.63.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:COF opened at $182.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.12. Capital One Financial has a twelve month low of $128.23 and a twelve month high of $210.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.47.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Capital One Financial will post 15.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Capital One Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Capital One Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COF. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 430,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,482,000 after buying an additional 17,825 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 46,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 11,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $46,915,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Capital One Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,694,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,451,527,000 after acquiring an additional 72,097 shares in the last quarter. 89.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.