American Express (NYSE:AXP) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

American Express (NYSE:AXP) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $12.65-$13.15 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $12.84. The company issued revenue guidance of $65.79-$67.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $66.24 billion. American Express also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 12.650-13.150 EPS.

American Express Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $231.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $220.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.35. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. 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 $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $201.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $487,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in American Express by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 74,400 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,936,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in American Express by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,924 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 5,997 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $6,930,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 2,635 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.