American Express Co Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (AXP)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- American Express (NYSE:AXP) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A- . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, revenue growth, increase in net income, solid stock price performance and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• AMERICAN EXPRESS CO has improved earnings per share by 5.8% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, AMERICAN EXPRESS CO increased its bottom line by earning $4.08 versus $3.35 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.40 versus $4.08).
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 8.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 3.4%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500, but is less than that of the Consumer Finance industry average. The net income increased by 1.2% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $1,235.00 million to $1,250.00 million.
• The stock has not only risen over the past year, it has done so at a faster pace than the S&P 500, reflecting the earnings growth and other positive factors similar to those we have cited here. Looking ahead, the stock's rise over the last year has already helped drive it to a level which is relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that the other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.
• Net operating cash flow has increased to $3,872.00 million or 48.98% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow, AMERICAN EXPRESS CO's cash flow growth rate is still lower than the industry average growth rate of 77.20%.

American Express Company provides charge and credit payment card products and travel-related services to customers worldwide. American Express has a market cap of $65.74 billion and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 13.6, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 2.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full American Express Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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