COF vs MA vs MS Stock Comparison

Capital One Financial, Mastercard and Morgan Stanley Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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COF Capital One Financial Corp
$203.46 +1.7% 1M -9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$124.82B
P/E
12.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
1.57%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
2 wins
MA Mastercard Inc
$609.78 +7.4% 1M +6.5% 1Y
Market cap
$530.94B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
0.57%
Payment Networks Financial Services
3 wins
MS Morgan Stanley
$186.98 -4.7% 1M +12.6% 1Y
Market cap
$293.92B
P/E
14.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$80.16B
Div. yield
2.22%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Morgan Stanley leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Morgan Stanley 4, Mastercard 3, Capital One Financial 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOFMAMSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $124.82B $530.94B $293.92B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.0x 33.1x 14.6x COF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.0x 29.1x 13.7x COF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +16.0% +16.2% MS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 46.3% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 59.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.6x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.57% 0.57% 2.22% MS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.0% +6.5% +12.6% MS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.9%/yr +12.9%/yr +12.8%/yr MA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.5% 22.7% 28.4% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 53/100 53/100 MS

Percentile Scorecard

COFMAMS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCOFMAMS
Valuation 78 #79 of 360 14 #809 of 940 31 #248 of 360
Growth – 66 #226 of 655 94 #13 of 191
Profitability – 99 #8 of 633 –
Financial Health – 49 #363 of 714 –
Shareholder Returns 18 #279 of 341 36 #457 of 709 34 #225 of 341
Overall – 53 53
  • COF ranked among 368 companies in Banking
  • MA ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • MS ranked among 368 companies in Banking

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCOFMAMSSPY
1 month +1.7%+7.4%-4.7% -0.2%
3 months -4.2%+8.4%-11.6% +3.9%
6 months +5.9%+20.1%-1.8% +8.2%
Year to date -16.1%+6.8%+5.3% +12.9%
1 year -9.0%+6.5%+12.6% +12.3%
3 years +108.2%+67.5%+165.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +27.7%+18.8%+38.5% +23.3%
5 years +33.4%+83.1%+82.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.9%+12.9%+12.8% +10.9%
10 years +172.0%+488.6%+452.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.5%+19.4%+18.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCOFMAMSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.5%22.7%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.8%22.5%29.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.310.261.42 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.280.290.44 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.9%-28.6%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.1%-3.6%-18.2% -1.2%
52-week high $257.94$632.81$228.55 $779.14
52-week low $176.10$471.55$154.37 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCOFMAMS
P/E now vs peer median 12.0xmedian 12.1x 33.1xmedian 13.0x 14.6xmedian 12.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 3.4x 15.1xmedian 3.2x 3.7xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 5.0x 22.6xmedian 7.4x —median 5.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 10.9x 31.8xmedian 10.8x -16.3xmedian 10.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.2x 94.6xmedian 1.2x —median 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.45median 1.34 1.69median 0.87 0.47median 1.34

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCOFMAMS
Revenue – $35.08B $80.16B
Operating income – $20.47B –
Net income – $16.26B –
Free cash flow – $16.70B –
EPS (diluted) $16.91 $18.41 $12.65
Cash & equivalents – $11.29B –
Total debt – $81.59B –
Shares (diluted) 621.10M 883.00M 1.57B
Enterprise value $124.82B $490.85B $293.92B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCOFMAMS
P/E 12.0x 33.1x 14.6x
P/FCF 4.1x 31.8x -16.3x
P/Operating cash flow – 30.4x –
P/S 1.9x 15.1x 3.7x
P/B 1.1x 94.6x –
P/Tangible book 1.3x 3,662x –
EV/EBITDA – 22.6x –
EV/EBIT – 26.6x –
EV/Revenue – 15.5x 3.7x
EV/FCF – 32.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 31.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.45 1.69 0.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOFMAMS
Revenue growth (1Y) – 16.0% 16.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 14.1% 14.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 21.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 16.1% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 19.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 16.7% –
EPS growth (1Y) 889.3% 23.2% 29.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 19.5% 30.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 2.9% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 0.9% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOFMAMS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – 68.6% –
Operating margin – 58.3% –
Pretax margin – 57.5% –
Net margin – 46.3% –
FCF margin – 47.6% –
Operating cash flow margin – 49.7% –
Return on equity – 263.6% –
Return on assets – 29.5% 1.2%
Return on invested capital – 59.0% –
Return on capital employed – 68.1% –
Asset turnover – 0.6x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.1x –
Stock comp / revenue – 1.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOFMAMS
Debt / assets – 42.7% –
Debt / equity – 4.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.6x –
Debt / FCF – 1.5x –
Liabilities / assets 83.7% 90.3% –
Equity / assets 16.3% 9.7% –
Interest coverage – 27.4x –
Current ratio – 1.1x –
Quick ratio – 0.7x –
Cash ratio – 0.5x –
Altman Z-score – 10.15 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOFMAMS
Dividend yield 1.6% 0.6% 2.2%
Net buyback yield – 3.0% –
Shareholder yield 1.6% 3.5% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCOFMAMS
Forward P/E 10.0xFY2026 29.1xFY2026 13.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.41FY2026 $20.99FY2026 $13.66FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.1%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026 +33.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.8% +14.7% -4.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $66.23BFY2026 $38.99BFY2026 $80.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.0%FY2026 +18.9%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +0.4% +13.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOFMAMS
Held by institutions 86.5% 87.5% 85.7%
Institutions holding 2,111 3,583 2,742
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +0.6% +1.5%
Institutions buying 1,049 1,588 1,468
Institutions selling 758 1,527 939
Buyers to sellers 1.38 1.04 1.56

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

COFMAMS
COF 1.00 0.45 0.60
MA 0.45 1.00 0.12
MS 0.60 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COF, MA and MS?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Capital One Financial (COF) $124.82B, Mastercard (MA) $530.94B, Morgan Stanley (MS) $293.92B.

Which stock is cheaper, COF, MA and MS?

Capital One Financial (COF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Capital One Financial (COF) 12.0x, Mastercard (MA) 33.1x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 14.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Capital One Financial (COF) is cheapest (Capital One Financial (COF) 10.0x, Mastercard (MA) 29.1x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 13.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Morgan Stanley (MS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +16.2%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Morgan Stanley (MS) returned the most: Capital One Financial (COF) -9.0%, Mastercard (MA) +6.5%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.6%. Over five years, Mastercard (MA) compounded fastest (Capital One Financial (COF) +5.9%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.9%/yr, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Morgan Stanley (MS) has the highest dividend yield: Capital One Financial (COF) 1.57%, Mastercard (MA) 0.57%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 2.22%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Capital One Financial (COF) 31.5%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 28.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, COF, MA and MS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Morgan Stanley (MS) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.