American Express (AXP) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, American Express (AXP) closed at $100.74, marking a +1.02% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.85%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.75%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.29%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had gained 5.32% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's gain of 13.17% and the S&P 500's gain of 12.44% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AXP as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 17, 2019. In that report, analysts expect AXP to post earnings of $2.02 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 8.6%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $10.50 billion, up 8% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.13 per share and revenue of $43.63 billion, which would represent changes of +10.91% and +8.16%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AXP. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.78% lower within the past month. AXP currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, AXP is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.26. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.2.

Also, we should mention that AXP has a PEG ratio of 1.17. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.17 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 226, which puts it in the bottom 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow AXP in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
American Express Company (AXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.