American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) - Investment analysts at DA Davidson lifted their Q1 2018 earnings per share estimates for American Express in a research report issued on Thursday. DA Davidson analyst A. Cyganovich now expects that the payment services company will post earnings per share of $1.51 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.47. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for American Express’ FY2018 earnings at $6.37 EPS.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. American Express had a return on equity of 21.94% and a net margin of 14.11%. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: “Q1 2018 Earnings Estimate for American Express Company Issued By DA Davidson (AXP)” was originally reported by StockNewsTimes and is the sole property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are accessing this piece on another publication, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of U.S. & international trademark & copyright legislation. The original version of this piece can be read at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/07/23/q1-2018-earnings-estimate-for-american-express-company-issued-by-da-davidson-axp.html.
Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Guggenheim upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $81.05 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 7th. CIBC dropped their price objective on American Express from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.77.
Shares of American Express (NYSE AXP) opened at 85.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.25. American Express has a 52-week low of $59.50 and a 52-week high of $86.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.18.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 5th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.18%.
American Express declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to buyback $4.40 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the payment services company to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 5,981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total transaction of $513,648.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Douglas E. Buckminster sold 46,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.78, for a total transaction of $3,792,621.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 103,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,374,947.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,831 shares of company stock valued at $4,921,191. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 2,686.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,177,867 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,494,913,000 after buying an additional 42,592,136 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,128,667,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $616,804,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of American Express by 21.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,198,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,360,596,000 after buying an additional 3,071,573 shares during the period. Finally, Tesco Pension Investment Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $137,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.60% of the company’s stock.
About American Express
American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, is a global services company. The Company’s principal products and services are charge and credit card products, and travel-related services, which are offered to consumers and businesses around the world. Its segments include the U.S. Consumer Services (USCS), International Consumer and Network Services (ICNS), Global Commercial Services (GCS) and Global Merchant Services (GMS).
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