The world of investment is often a complex and perplexing one, filled with bustle and dynamic activity that is constantly changing and evolving. As such, it is no wonder that the recent news regarding LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI and their stake in American Express has caused quite a stir in the financial community.
According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased their stake in American Express by 2.2% during the first quarter, adding an additional 1,565 shares to their already substantial holdings. This brings their total number of shares in the payment services company to 74,134, making it their 19th biggest holding overall.
With these new holdings comes a considerable amount of power and influence over American Express’s future direction – one that they are no doubt keen to utilize to its fullest potential. Indeed, it is worth noting that just earlier this year on March 8th, American Express itself authorized a stock buyback program totaling 120,000,000 outstanding shares – suggesting that there may be significant belief among its board of directors that its stock is currently undervalued.
All of this activity has resulted in much speculation about the company’s future prospects – especially given its current share price of $168.07 on NYSE:AXP as of Friday morning. While some investors are cautious about what lies ahead for American Express – given its one year low of $130.65 and a PEG ratio of 1.05 alongside concerns about consumer debt levels – others argue that this represents an opportunity for growth (particularly if the company continues to execute well).
Whatever happens next for American Express remains to be seen; however, with their robust market cap of $124.92 billion and strong position within the payments industry more broadly, one thing seems certain: there will always be investors eager to seize any opportunities presented by shifts in this rapidly-evolving financial landscape.
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Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds Continue to Take Positions in American Express While Analysts Give Mixed Ratings
[stock_market_widget type=”chart” template=”basic” color=”#3946CE” assets=”AXP” range=”1mo” interval=”1d” axes=”true” cursor=”true” range_selector=”true” api=”yf”]Institutional investors and hedge funds have continued to make moves on American Express (NYSE:AXP) recently, with several buying new positions in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC bought shares for around $25,000, while Elequin Securities LLC and My Personal CFO LLC both purchased new positions in the payment services company during the same period. Chelsea Counsel Co. also got involved, taking up a position worth around $30,000. Meanwhile, PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its AXP holdings by 288.9% in Q4 to bring its total stake to 210 shares valued at $31,000. Institutional investors now own 82.84% of American Express’s stock.
A number of equities analysts have issued ratings recently for AXP. Citigroup dropped its price target for the stock from $152 to $150, while Piper Sandler lowered its price target from $179 to $172 and rated the stock “neutral”. In contrast, Morgan Stanley gave AXP an “overweight” rating and raised its price objective from $186 to $188 per share in a research note earlier this year. Four analysts rate the stock as a “sell”, eight say “hold”, and five consider it a “buy”. The consensus rating across all analysts is “hold”, with a consensus target price of $174.50 according to Bloomberg.com.
In terms of financial performance, American Express last reported quarterly earnings results on April 20th when it announced earnings per share (EPS) of $2.40 for that period – below consensus estimates by ($0.26). Nevertheless, the company achieved net margins of 13% and return on equity figures of almost 30%. It pulled in revenue worth over $14 billion during Q1 2017 compared to estimates just above that ($14.02 billion). For this fiscal year as a whole, analysts anticipate American Express will post EPS of $11.15.
Finally, the payment services firm recently revealed it will be paying out a dividend for Q3 worth $0.60 per share, to be paid on August 10th. This represents an annualized dividend of $2.40 and means AXP has a present dividend yield of 1.43%. The stock is expected to go ex-dividend on July 6th.
