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

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 given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the payment services company on Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th.

American Express has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.5% per year over the last three years. American Express has a payout ratio of 18.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $266.17 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $249.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $272.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.78.

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.