American Express (AXP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 on November 8th

American Express (NYSE:AXP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th.

American Express has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.5% annually over the last three years. American Express has a payout ratio of 18.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $268.53 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $252.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $193.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $272.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. American Express’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Compass Point assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $231.43.

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.