Big rebound for Amex

Article Excerpt

AMERICAN EXPRESS CO. $153 is a buy. The company (New York symbol AXP, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 805.6 million; Market cap: $123.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.7; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.americanexpress.com) was once best known for its travellers cheques and travel-related services. Today, it’s now one of the world’s largest issuers of payment cards. Amex is also a lender and must set aside reserves against future loan losses. Still, in the first quarter of 2021, the company was able to take back $1.05 billion in funds previously set aside for potential bad loans stemming from the pandemic. As a result, it earned $2.24 billion, or $2.74 a share, in the quarter. That’s a big improvement over its year-earlier earnings of $367 million, or $0.41 a share. Due to ongoing travel and live entertainment restrictions, revenue in the quarter fell 12.1%, to $9.06 billion from $10.31 billion. However, revenue should improve as more areas reopen their economies. Amex’s current annual dividend rate…