Moderate p/e adds to Amex’s appeal

Article Excerpt

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $85 (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; shares o/s: 893.8 million; Market cap: $76.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Divd. yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.americanexpress.com) is one of the world’s largest issuers of payment cards. Amex will increase its quarterly dividend by 9.4%. Starting in the third quarter for 2017, investors will receive $0.35 a share instead of $0.32. The new annual rate of $1.40 yields 1.6%. The company also plans to repurchase $4.4 billion of its shares by June 30, 2018. Amex expects to earn between $5.60 and $5.80 a share in 2017 on its cost-cutting plan and higher spending by cardholders. The stock trades at 14.9 times the midpoint of that range. American Express is a buy. buy…