American Express (NYSE:AXP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

American Express (NYSE:AXP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $276.86 and last traded at $276.25, with a volume of 855480 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $270.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.96.

American Express Trading Up 2.1 %

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 stock has a market cap of $196.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.