American Express (NYSE:AXP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

American Express (NYSE:AXP) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $253.09.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $271.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $263.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.02 and a 1 year high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently 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.