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American Express (AXP) Stock Moves -0.59%: What You Should Know

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American Express (AXP - Free Report) closed at $116.57 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.59% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.66% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.01%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.55%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the credit card issuer and global payments company had lost 1.97% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's gain of 0.8% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.77% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AXP as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, AXP is projected to report earnings of $2.01 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.52%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $11.38 billion, up 8.7% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.14 per share and revenue of $43.60 billion. These totals would mark changes of +11.05% and +8.09%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AXP. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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 0.23% 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 14.4. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.03, so we one might conclude that AXP is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that AXP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.37. 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. The Financial - Miscellaneous Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.88 at yesterday's closing price.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, which puts it in the bottom 25% 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.


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