American Express (NYSE:AXP) Cut to Hold at HSBC

HSBC lowered shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $270.00 price objective on the payment services company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $265.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AXP. Citigroup started coverage on American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a neutral rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $239.96.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $270.46 on Tuesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $276.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.89 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.