Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral and PT of $40 on Capital One Financial

Piper Jaffray reiterates its Neutral rating on Capital One Financial COF. At the same time, Piper Jaffray left its price target on the company's stock unchanged at $40. In a research report published today, Piper Jaffray commented on the company's acquisition of ING Direct. In the report, Piper Jaffray states, "COF, as expected, announced it is acquiring ING Direct for about $9 billion, making it the 5th largest bank, by deposits, in the U.S. This makes COF very deposit heavy and we can only conclude it intends to acquire the $30 billion HSBC portfolio or other assets... We have mixed feelings on the deal, as we don't believe there is substantial franchise value in the ING strategy of accumulating deposits with higher rates. While we feel COF shares are attractively valued, we prefer Visa, MasterCard and American Express which have a much more attractive long term organic growth outlook." On Thursday, Capital One Financial added 2.36% to its value to close the day at $49. Its shares continued to climb higher in today's pre-market trading, rising 0.82% to $49.40.