In the latest trading session, American Express (AXP) closed at $119.92, marking a -0.22% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.19%.
Coming into today, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had lost 4.07% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector gained 1.48%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.61%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from AXP as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect AXP to post earnings of $2.08 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10.64%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $10.99 billion, up 8.29% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.12 per share and revenue of $43.64 billion, which would represent changes of +10.78% and +8.18%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for AXP. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher. AXP is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, AXP is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.8. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11, which means AXP is trading at a premium to the group.
Investors should also note that AXP has a PEG ratio of 1.35 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.35 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, putting it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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