American Express (AXP) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Friday

American Express (NYSE:AXP) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Friday, April 19th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $3.01 per share for the quarter. American Express has set its FY 2024 guidance at 12.650-13.150 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $12.65-13.15 EPS.Parties interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect American Express to post $13 EPS for the current fiscal year and $15 EPS for the next fiscal year.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $217.62 on Thursday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $231.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $219.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $157.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of American Express by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 359 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $63,000. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

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.