Company Description

American Express Company is a leading global payments and travel company. The company's products and services include charge and payment card products as well as travel-related services offered to customers and business globally.

Rewarding Shareholders with Solid Income

American Express just declared a regular quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share, noting that it is payable on February 10 to shareholders of record on January 11.

The company rewards shareholders with an industry-leading yield of 1.7%.

Bullish Forecasts and Strong Momentum

American Express has seen recent upward revisions of the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings. Full-year forecasts are up from last month's $1.34 per share to $1.46, which included a 1-cent increase over the past week.

For 2010, analysts polled by Zacks hiked estimates from last month's $2.15 per share to $2.32, which included a 2-cent increase over the past week.

Shares staged a nice advance lately, outpacing the market by about 20% over the past 3 months.

Leading the Industry

The company boasts a return on equity (ROE) of 12%, topping the industry average of 8%. Its net profit margin of 6.5% beats the industry average of 4%. The aforementioned dividend yield of 1.7% stands out as most of AXP's competitors offer no dividend.

A Stellar Third Quarter

American Express posted third-quarter earnings of 44 cents per share in late October, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 22%. Earnings surprised on estimates by an average of 31% over the past 4 consecutive quarters. Revenues slipped 16% year-over-year.