Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 427,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,034 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Capital One Financial were worth $76,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 146,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,976,000 after acquiring an additional 7,331 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 8.1% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,649,000. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Capital One Financial by 36.8% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COF shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Capital One Financial from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised Capital One Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $235.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC raised shares of Capital One Financial from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $176.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Capital One Financial from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Capital One Financial from $185.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.50.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

NYSE COF opened at $209.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $190.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.75. Capital One Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $128.23 and a fifty-two week high of $210.10. The company has a market cap of $80.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $10.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Capital One Financial Co. will post 15.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Capital One Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.71%.

Capital One Financial 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.