William Blair Forecasts Higher Earnings for American Express

Key Points

• William Blair has raised their FY2025 earnings estimate for American Express to $15.36 per share, slightly above the previous estimate of $15.31, and maintains an "Outperform" rating on the stock.
• Other analysts have also boosted their price targets for American Express, with Deutsche Bank setting it at $375.00, reflecting a positive outlook from multiple equity research firms.
• American Express recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.9%, with a payout ratio of 22.01%.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) - William Blair increased their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of American Express in a report released on Thursday, October 23rd. William Blair analyst C. Kennedy now anticipates that the payment services company will post earnings of $15.36 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $15.31. William Blair has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for American Express' current full-year earnings is $15.33 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for American Express' Q4 2025 earnings at $3.50 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.01 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.47 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.65 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $4.25 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.38 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $19.79 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $332.65.

American Express Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of AXP opened at $354.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $244.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.29. The company's fifty day moving average is $329.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.99. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $357.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $18.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 33.41%. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 210.7% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.01%.

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.

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