Here’s Why Diamond Hill Capital Large Cap Fund Added Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) to its Portfolio

Diamond Hill Capital, an investment management company, released its “Large Cap Fund” first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Markets exhibited a mixed performance in Q1 as the new presidential administration generated significant buzz with a flurry of actions, leaving investors uncertain about the future direction. The portfolio trailed the Russell 1000 Value Index benchmark in Q1. The strategy returned 1.36% (net) vs 2.14% returns for the index. To get an idea of the fund’s best choices for 2025, check out its top 5 positions.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Diamond Hill Large Cap Fund highlighted stocks such as Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF). Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is a financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association that offers various financial products and services. The one-month return of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) was 16.64%, and its shares gained 31.71% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 9, 2025, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) stock closed at $187.76 per share with a market capitalization of $71.94 billion.

Diamond Hill Large Cap Fund stated the following regarding Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“As volatility picked up sharply in the quarter, we were active in the portfolio — and we anticipate that as volatility continues into Q2, we will likewise attempt to capitalize on compelling opportunities to reposition the portfolio for the period ahead. In addition to Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF), among the new positions we initiated in Q1 were MetLife and General Mills.

Capital One is one of the US’s largest credit card issuers and is known for having the industry’s best technology platform, which has helped drive improved operating efficiency and strong underwriting, and helps in refreshing card offerings — a key to maintaining its position in a highly competitive industry. Capital One announced the acquisition of Discover in early 2024 — a deal which should unlock growth potential as it gets Capital One closer to merchants and gives the company access to the data necessary to create more competitive card offerings than peers. Though the merger faces a Department of Justice challenge, we believe the current share price fails to appreciate the near and long-term synergies once the deal is approved, and accordingly, we capitalized on the attractive valuation to initiate a position in the quarter.”

Jim Cramer Backs Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) in Discover Deal

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Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 89 hedge fund portfolios held Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 67 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) and shared the list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.