American Express (NYSE:AXP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.23 EPS

American Express (NYSE:AXP) announced its earnings results on Friday. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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 Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $242.38 on Monday. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $253.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $174.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.21.

American Express Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $227.65.

About American Express

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.