Short Interest in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Rises By 6.0%

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,420,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the July 31st total of 8,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $3.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $255.49. The company had a trading volume of 205,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,652. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $261.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,030 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $657,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $1,098,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup started coverage on American Express in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

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.