How to buy American Express Company shares

American Express Company (AXP) is a leading credit services business with stocks listed in the US. It opened the day at US$147.57 after a previous close of US$147.18. During the day the price has varied from a low of USD145.87 to a high of USD148.92. The latest price was USD147.16 (25 minute delay). American Express Company is listed on the NYSE. All prices are listed in US Dollars.

How to buy shares in American Express Company

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for American Express Company. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: AXP. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until American Express Company reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$142.28, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of American Express Company, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of American Express Company. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

American Express Company share price

Use our graph to track the performance of AXP stocks over time.

American Express Company shares at a glance

• Live prices
• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-04-22.

Open	US$147.57
High	US$148.92
Low	US$145.87
Close	US$147.16
Previous close	US$147.18
Change	US$-0.02
Change %	-0.0136%
Volume	3,162,252

Information last updated 2021-04-21.

52-week range	US$74.8538 - US$151.0061
50-day moving average	US$144.8043
200-day moving average	US$123.9477
Target price	US$144.75
PE ratio	39.0504
Dividend yield	US$1.72 (1.19%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$3.77

Compare share trading platforms to buy stock

The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy American Express Company stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of American Express Company by TradingView

American Express Company price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $147.16

1 week (2021-04-13)	0.80%
1 month (2021-03-19)	4.58%
3 months (2021-01-22)	16.66%
6 months (2020-10-23)	45.73%

1 year (2020-04-23)	78.46%
2 years (2019-04-23)	29.12%
3 years (2018-04-23)	46.27%
5 years (2016-04-22)	123.21%

Is American Express Company under- or over-valued?

Valuing American Express Company stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of American Express Company's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

American Express Company's P/E ratio

American Express Company's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 39x. In other words, American Express Company shares trade at around 39x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

American Express Company's PEG ratio

American Express Company's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.8726. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into American Express Company's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

American Express Company financials

Revenue TTM	US$31.4 billion
Operating margin TTM	14.07%
Gross profit TTM	US$22.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	1.61%
Return on equity TTM	13.61%
Profit margin	10%
Book value	28.552
Market capitalisation	US$118.3 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting American Express Company shares

There are currently 6.7 million American Express Company shares held short by investors – that's known as American Express Company's "short interest". This figure is 24% down from 8.8 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting American Express Company shares can be evaluated.

American Express Company's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

American Express Company's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of American Express Company shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of American Express Company shares traded daily (recently around 3.4 million). American Express Company's SIR currently stands at 1.94. In other words for every 100,000 American Express Company shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1940 shares are currently held short.

However American Express Company's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of American Express Company shares, or, against the total number of tradable American Express Company shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case American Express Company's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 American Express Company shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.0103% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable American Express Company shares, roughly 10 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against American Express Company.

Find out more about how you can short American Express Company stock.

American Express Company's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like American Express Company.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

American Express Company's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 22.29

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and American Express Company's overall score of 22.29 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 25th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like American Express Company is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

American Express Company's environmental score

Environmental score: 4.55/100

American Express Company's environmental score of 4.55 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that American Express Company is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

American Express Company's social score

Social score: 15.43/100

American Express Company's social score of 15.43 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that American Express Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

American Express Company's governance score

Governance score: 15.82/100

American Express Company's governance score puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that American Express Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

American Express Company's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. American Express Company scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that American Express Company hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

American Express Company was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	22.29
Total ESG percentile	25.26
Environmental score	4.55
Environmental score percentile	7
Social score	15.43
Social score percentile	7
Governance score	15.82
Governance score percentile	7
Level of controversy	3

American Express Company share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 45.74% of net profits

Recently American Express Company has paid out, on average, around 45.74% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.19% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), American Express Company shareholders could enjoy a 1.19% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In American Express Company's case, that would currently equate to about $1.72 per share.

While American Express Company's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that American Express Company may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

American Express Company's most recent dividend payout was on 9 May 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 30 March 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have American Express Company's shares ever split?

American Express Company's shares were split on a 10000:8753 basis on 2 October 2005. So if you had owned 8753 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 10000 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your American Express Company shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 12.5% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for American Express Company shares which in turn could have impacted American Express Company's share price.

American Express Company share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, American Express Company's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$74.8538 up to US$151.0061. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while American Express Company's is 1.2808. This would suggest that American Express Company's shares are more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

American Express Company overview

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Global Consumer Services Group, Global Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include payment and financing products; network services; accounts payable expense management products and services; and travel and lifestyle services. The company's products and services also comprise merchant acquisition and processing, servicing and settlement, point-of-sale marketing, and information products and services for merchants; and fraud prevention services, as well as the design and operation of customer loyalty programs. It sells its products and services to consumers, small businesses, mid-sized companies, and large corporations through mobile and online applications, third-party vendors and business partners, direct mail, telephone, in-house sales teams, and direct response advertising. American Express Company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of American Express Company is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.112% of American Express Company shares are held by insiders and 86.521% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for American Express Company?

  American Express Company's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is American Express Company based?

  American Express Company's address is: 200 Vesey Street, New York, NY, United States, 10285

• What is American Express Company's ISIN number?

  American Express Company's international securities identification number is: US0258161092

• What is American Express Company's CUSIP number?

  American Express Company's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 025816109