Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) and Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) Critical Survey

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) and Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Upstart and Capital One Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upstart	2	8	7	0	2.29
Capital One Financial	0	4	20	0	2.83

Upstart presently has a consensus price target of $32.40, indicating a potential upside of 48.01%. Capital One Financial has a consensus price target of $256.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.96%. Given Upstart’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Upstart is more favorable than Capital One Financial.

Risk and Volatility

Upstart has a beta of 2.48, suggesting that its stock price is 148% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Capital One Financial has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Upstart and Capital One Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upstart	$1.32 billion	1.61	$53.60 million	$0.59	37.10
Capital One Financial	$69.25 billion	1.75	$2.45 billion	$16.94	11.93

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

Profitability

This table compares Upstart and Capital One Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upstart	4.86%	9.67%	2.50%
Capital One Financial	13.70%	11.64%	1.94%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

63.0% of Upstart shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Capital One Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 17.3% of Upstart shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Capital One Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Capital One Financial beats Upstart on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Upstart

Upstart Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform in the United States. Its platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small dollar loans that connects consumer demand for loans to its to bank and credit unions. Upstart Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

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. The company accepts checking accounts, money market deposits, negotiable order of withdrawals, savings deposits, and time deposits. Its loan products include credit card loans; auto and retail banking loans; and commercial and multifamily real estate, and commercial and industrial loans. The company also offers credit and debit card products; online direct banking services; and provides advisory, capital markets, treasury management, and depository services. It serves consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients through digital channels, branches, cafés, and other distribution channels located in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and California. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.