Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for American Express (NYSE:AXP)

American Express (NYSE:AXP) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for shares of American Express in a report released on Monday, April 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst W. Ryan now anticipates that the payment services company will earn $3.21 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.27. The consensus estimate for American Express’ current full-year earnings is $12.92 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for American Express’ Q3 2024 earnings at $3.36 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $3.09 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $13.00 EPS.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.

AXP has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $238.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $221.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.19. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $239.42. The company has a market cap of $172.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $533,018,000 after acquiring an additional 67,575 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.