American Express (AXP -0.53%) is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States and like most large banks, pays a quarterly dividend. While its dividend yield of about 1.2%, as of this writing, doesn't exactly make it a "high dividend" stock, you might be surprised at how much money the company sends to its shareholders each year.
How much will American Express pay out in dividends this year?
Let's start with the short answer. There are 710,910,000 shares of American Express outstanding, as of this writing. Each of these shares entitles investors to a dividend of $2.80 per year. Based on this information, American Express is set to pay out $1.99 billion in dividends in 2024.
The share count could certainly change a bit, as American Express typically buys back some of its own stock each year. But this should be a good estimate.
Next year could be very different
While American Express doesn't have a flawless track record of increasing its dividend, it tends to boost the payout in most years. Over the past decade, Amex's dividend has increased by about 170%, and the company has boosted the payout annually, with the exception of a two-year stretch during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While we have no idea what dividend increase American Express will give shareholders in 2025 and it's not guaranteed that the company will pay one at all, the average dividend increase over the past decade has been about 10%. Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect something in that ballpark next year.
