American Express (AXP) Competitors

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and community ranking.

Does the media refer more to COF or AXP?

In the previous week, American Express had 33 more articles in the media than Capital One Financial. MarketBeat recorded 68 mentions for American Express and 35 mentions for Capital One Financial. Capital One Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat American Express' score of 0.94 indicating that Capital One Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Capital One Financial	20 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Express	36 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	18 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is COF or AXP a better dividend stock?

Capital One Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. American Express pays an annual dividend of $3.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Capital One Financial pays out 20.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Express pays out 23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Capital One Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in COF or AXP?

89.8% of Capital One Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.3% of American Express shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Capital One Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of American Express shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor COF or AXP?

Capital One Financial received 89 more outperform votes than American Express when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.48% of users gave Capital One Financial an outperform vote while only 59.83% of users gave American Express an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Capital One Financial	Outperform Votes 1285 64.48%	Underperform Votes 708 35.52%
American Express	Outperform Votes 1196 59.83%	Underperform Votes 803 40.17%

Which has better earnings & valuation, COF or AXP?

American Express has higher revenue and earnings than Capital One Financial. Capital One Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Express, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Capital One Financial	$39.11B	1.58	$4.75B	$11.59	14.01
American Express	$65.95B	2.72	$10.13B	$14.01	18.24

Is COF or AXP more profitable?

American Express has a net margin of 15.36% compared to Capital One Financial's net margin of 9.46%. American Express' return on equity of 32.65% beat Capital One Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Capital One Financial	9.46%	9.45%	1.17%
American Express	15.36%	32.65%	3.56%

Which has more volatility and risk, COF or AXP?

Capital One Financial has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Express has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer COF or AXP?

Capital One Financial presently has a consensus target price of $206.73, indicating a potential upside of 27.32%. American Express has a consensus target price of $296.81, indicating a potential upside of 16.14%. Given Capital One Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Capital One Financial is more favorable than American Express.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Capital One Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
American Express	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.28

Summary

Capital One Financial beats American Express on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.