American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $282.95 and last traded at $282.95, with a volume of 6929 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $281.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $259.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.14. 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 company has a market cap of $204.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in American Express by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Company Profile

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.