Kimelman & Baird LLC Purchases New Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,425 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Three 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, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $231.43.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $271.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $195.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.19. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $272.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

American Express 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.