COF vs V vs MS Stock Comparison

Capital One Financial, Visa and Morgan Stanley Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COF Capital One Financial Corp
$201.33 +2.6% 1M -8.5% 1Y
Market cap
$125.54B
P/E
12.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$62.02B
Div. yield
0.02%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
4 wins
V Visa Inc.
$408.02 +12.8% 1M +17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$676.62B
P/E
29.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$44.49B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
7 wins
MS Morgan Stanley
$179.49 -9.5% 1M +12.7% 1Y
Market cap
$285.21B
P/E
14.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$78.04B
Div. yield
–
Money Center Banks Financial Services

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Visa leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Visa 7, Capital One Financial 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCOFVMSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $125.54B $676.62B $285.21B V
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.3x 29.9x 14.6x COF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 10.3x 29.5x 13.2x COF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +45.3% +14.4% +18.0% COF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.4% 50.8% 25.0% V
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.4% 38.1% 12.0% V
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.4x 2.9x V
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.5% +17.9% +12.7% V
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.7%/yr +12.0%/yr +12.0%/yr V
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.6% 22.1% 28.5% V
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 82/100 52/100 39/100 COF

Percentile Scorecard

COFVMS

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

AxisCOFVMS
Valuation 86 #52 of 361 13 #827 of 945 7 #337 of 361
Growth 95 #17 of 344 49 #418 of 822 88 #44 of 344
Profitability 70 #106 of 348 99 #13 of 835 25 #263 of 348
Financial Health 66 #116 of 340 71 #262 of 905 2 #332 of 340
Shareholder Returns 95 #17 of 352 30 #509 of 726 75 #88 of 352
Overall 82 52 39
  • COF ranked among 370 companies in Banking
  • V ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • MS ranked among 370 companies in Banking

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCOFVMSSPY
1 month +2.6%+12.8%-9.5% -1.0%
3 months -0.7%+14.7%-16.3% +2.9%
6 months +5.2%+31.9%-4.6% +6.4%
Year to date -16.9%+16.3%+1.1% +11.4%
1 year -8.5%+17.9%+12.7% +13.1%
3 years +125.7%+73.9%+150.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +31.2%+20.3%+35.9% +21.5%
5 years +20.0%+76.5%+76.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.7%+12.0%+12.0% +10.9%
10 years +168.8%+395.5%+436.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year +10.4%+17.4%+18.3% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCOFVMSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.6%22.1%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.6%20.0%29.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.300.281.42 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.270.810.45 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.2%-24.5%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.9%-1.5%-21.5% -2.5%
52-week high $257.94$414.26$228.55 $779.14
52-week low $176.10$295.52$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.

MultipleCOFVMS
P/E now vs peer median 12.3xmedian 12.5x 30.2xmedian 13.4x 14.3xmedian 12.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 3.5x 16.4xmedian 3.2x 3.6xmedian 3.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 4.8x 26.1xmedian 5.9x 6.3xmedian 4.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 11.4x 34.6xmedian 11.1x -15.2xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.2x 20.7xmedian 1.2x 2.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.58median 1.48 2.10median 0.89 0.49median 1.48

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 monthsCOFVMS
Revenue $62.02B $44.49B $78.04B
Operating income – $27.00B –
Net income $10.52B $22.59B $20.37B
Free cash flow $29.70B $21.01B -$18.58B
EPS (diluted) $16.37 $11.90 $12.46
Cash & equivalents – $12.36B $160.14B
Total debt $44.68B $23.86B $392.56B
Shares (diluted) 621.10M 1.90B 1.57B
Enterprise value $125.54B $619.94B -$223.89B

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
MetricCOFVMS
P/E 12.3x 30.2x 14.3x
P/FCF 4.2x 34.6x -15.2x
P/Operating cash flow 3.9x 32.2x -18.1x
P/S 2.0x 16.4x 3.6x
P/B 1.1x 20.7x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 95.1x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 4.6x 26.1x 6.3x
EV/EBIT 5.7x 27.4x 6.7x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 16.6x 6.6x
EV/FCF 5.7x 35.2x -27.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.3x 32.7x -33.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.58 2.10 0.49

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCOFVMS
Revenue growth (1Y) 45.3% 14.4% 18.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 20.1% 11.8% 13.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 11.6% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 9.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 11.4% 36.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 25.5% 11.0% 26.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 2,849% 14.9% 40.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 14.4% 29.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 60.2% -3.9% 11.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 4.6% 27.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 63.0% -4.8% 11.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 4.0% 25.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCOFVMS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 58.4% 63.7% 104.2%
Operating margin – 60.7% –
Pretax margin 21.0% 60.6% 33.5%
Net margin 16.4% 50.8% 25.0%
FCF margin 47.9% 47.2% -23.8%
Operating cash flow margin 50.7% 50.8% -20.0%
Return on equity 9.3% 63.8% 17.5%
Return on assets 1.6% 23.8% 1.3%
Return on invested capital 14.4% 38.1% 12.0%
Return on capital employed – 42.6% –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.5x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.0x 1.0x -0.8x
Stock comp / revenue 1.2% 2.1% 2.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCOFVMS
Debt / assets 6.6% 25.2% 23.4%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 3.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.4x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 1.1x -21.1x
Liabilities / assets 83.1% 62.8% 93.0%
Equity / assets 16.9% 37.2% 7.0%
Interest coverage 1.8x 34.8x 1.5x
Current ratio – 1.0x –
Quick ratio – 0.6x –
Cash ratio – 0.4x –
Altman Z-score – 8.94 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCOFVMS
Dividend yield 1.6% 0.7% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 7.0% 2.9% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 8.6% 3.6% 4.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 18.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 6.4% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 74.4% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 26.8% – –

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.

ConsensusCOFVMS
Forward P/E 10.3xFY2026 29.5xFY2026 13.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $19.55FY2026 $13.83FY2026 $13.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.3%FY2026 +20.6%FY2026 +33.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.7% +11.6% -4.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $66.18BFY2026 $44.21BFY2026 $79.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +23.9%FY2026 +10.5%FY2026 +13.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.0% +8.9% +13.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCOFVMS
Held by institutions 86.5% 87.6% 85.7%
Institutions holding 2,110 4,526 2,740
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +2.4% +1.5%
Institutions buying 1,048 2,327 1,466
Institutions selling 758 1,732 939
Buyers to sellers 1.38 1.34 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.

COFVMS
COF 1.00 0.39 0.61
V 0.39 1.00 0.12
MS 0.61 0.12 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COF, V and MS?

Visa (V) is the largest by market capitalisation: Capital One Financial (COF) $125.54B, Visa (V) $676.62B, Morgan Stanley (MS) $285.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, COF, V and MS?

Capital One Financial (COF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Capital One Financial (COF) 12.3x, Visa (V) 29.9x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 14.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Capital One Financial (COF) is cheapest (Capital One Financial (COF) 10.3x, Visa (V) 29.5x, Morgan Stanley (MS) 13.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Capital One Financial (COF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Capital One Financial (COF) +45.3%, Visa (V) +14.4%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +18.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Visa (V) has the highest net margin (Capital One Financial (COF) 16.4%, Visa (V) 50.8%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 25.0%). On return on invested capital, Visa (V) leads (Capital One Financial (COF) 14.4%, Visa (V) 38.1%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 12.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Visa (V) returned the most: Capital One Financial (COF) -8.5%, Visa (V) +17.9%, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.7%. Over five years, Visa (V) compounded fastest (Capital One Financial (COF) +3.7%/yr, Visa (V) +12.0%/yr, Morgan Stanley (MS) +12.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Capital One Financial (COF) 0.02%, Visa (V) 0.00%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 0.00%. Visa (V) and Morgan Stanley (MS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Visa (V) has been the steadiest (Capital One Financial (COF) 31.6%, Visa (V) 22.1%, Morgan Stanley (MS) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, COF, V 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, Visa (V) leads on 7. 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.