American Express (NYSE:AXP) Downgraded by HSBC to “Hold”

HSBC lowered shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. HSBC currently has $270.00 price target on the payment services company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $265.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AXP. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a neutral rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $239.96.

American Express Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of AXP opened at $276.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $277.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $255.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The business 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 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.90%.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in American Express by 8.5% during the first 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 lifted its stake 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 valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in 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 valued at $408,494,000 after buying an additional 224,079 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.