American Express (NYSE:AXP) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.70

American Express (NYSE:AXP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the payment services company on Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th.

American Express has increased its dividend by an average of 10.5% per year over the last three years. American Express has a dividend payout ratio of 18.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect American Express to earn $14.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.8%.

American Express Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $266.17. 2,019,096 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,961,688. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $272.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. 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 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. BTIG Research began coverage on American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven 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 $230.78.

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.