Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, credit card giant American Express (NYSE: AXP ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at American Express' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
American Express facts
| Headquarters (Founded) |
New York (1850) |
| Market Cap |
$55.8 billion |
| Industry |
Credit services |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$28.8 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Kenneth Chenault
CFO Daniel Henry |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) |
22.0% |
| Dividend Yield |
1.5% |
| Competitors |
Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS )
MasterCard (NYSE: MA )
Visa (NYSE: V ) |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 90% of the 2,932 members who have rated American Express believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star Chemdawg, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community, and XCS.
Earlier this fall, Chemdawg tapped American Express as an affluent income opportunity: "the rich get richer ... and they all use [American Express]. low default rate and the best dividend in the card market."
In fact, American Express currently sports a decent dividend yield of 1.6%. That's higher than that of competitors Discover (1.0%), MasterCard (0.2%), and Visa (0.9%).
CAPS member XCS expands on the American Express outperform argument:
Historically, the credit choice for most well-heeled consumers -- who are coincidentally the same consumers not as hard hit by the soft economy. As economic outlook brightens, look for [American Express] to expand beyond solid fundamentals to capture additional market share of consumers who harbor negative recession-era feelings about Visa card issuers and bailout banks.
What do you think about American Express, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
Interested in another easy way to track American Express? Add it to your watchlist.
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