American Express Gains On Upbeat Q4 Results, Outlook; Increased Dividend

(RTTNews) - Shares of American Express Company (AXP) gapped-up more than 5% on Tuesday following upbeat fourth-quarter results. The company's full-year revenue growth outlook also stood better than analysts' view. It also plans to increase quarterly dividend from the first quarter.

American Express reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.7 billion, or $2.18 per share, higher than $1.4 billion, or $1.76 per share, a year ago. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.87 per share.

Revenue for the quarter increased to $12.145 billion from $9.351 billion last year, driven by growth in Card Member spending. The consensus estimate was for $11.5 billion.

Looking forward to 2022, the company expects revenue to grow in the range of 18 to 20 percent. Analysts see revenue growth of 14.4% for the year.

Earnings per share for the full-year is expected between $9.25 and $9.65. The consensus estimate stands at $9.67 per share.

Further, American Express plans to increase its quarterly dividend by approximately 20 percent, from $0.43 cents to $0.52 cents per share beginning with the first quarter 2022.

"Our investment strategy enabled us to reach record levels of Card Member spending, maintain customer retention and satisfaction above pre-pandemic levels, increase new Card acquisitions, grow our loan balances, and deepen our digital engagement with customers, producing revenue growth of 30 percent in the fourth quarter and 17 percent for the full year," said Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

AXP is at $164.49 currently. It has traded in the range of $112.10- $189.03 in the past 52 weeks.