American Express (NYSE:AXP) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

American Express (NYSE:AXP) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. American Express updated its FY 2024 guidance to 13.300-13.800 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $13.30-13.80 EPS.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $242.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $174.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $253.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $235.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.65.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.