Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF)

Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 27,311 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 180% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,761 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $207.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upgraded Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Capital One Financial from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.63.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COF. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Capital One Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Capital One Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Capital One Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Capital One Financial Price Performance

Shares of COF stock opened at $182.54 on Wednesday. Capital One Financial has a 52-week low of $128.23 and a 52-week high of $210.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $69.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $191.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.12.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.31. Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $10.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Capital One Financial will post 15.65 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.