A broad but brief look at the credit card giant.

1. American Express
An Owner's Manual for Investors

2. you're entitled to a share of its earnings.
As an owner of American Express' stock

3. NOT TO SCALE
obviously
$5.8
Billion
AMEX's
12-Month
Earnings
AMEX's
Earnings
per share
$5.54

4. If you divide AMEX's share price by
its earnings per share (EPS), you get
its price-to-earnings ratio.

5. P/E
Ratio
=
Share Price
EPS
12.94=
$71.65
$5.54
=
This is how much it costs to buy $1
of AMEX's annual earnings.

6. A higher P/E ratio implies a lower
potential return.

7. 1
10
100
1,000
100 Biggest S&P Companies
P/ERatio
Most companies have P/E ratios
between 12 and 30
What is a Typical Stock's P/E Ratio?

8. You can also use American Express'
P/E ratio to derive its earnings yield.

9. 1
12.94 7.7%
AMEX's
Earnings
Yield
1
P/E Ratio
= ==

10. This helps you compare a stock
to other types of investments,
such as bonds and real estate.

11. 7.73%
6.63%
4.33%
2.90%
2.45%2.21%
AMEX's
Earnings
Yield
Class A
Office
Building
Cap Rate
S&P 500
Earnings
Yield
10-Year
AAA Corp.
Bonds
5-Year
CDs
10-Year
Treasuries
Average Rates of Return

12. Of course, if you own one share of
American Express stock, you don't
get a check each year for its EPS.

13. You receive quarterly dividends
instead, which typically account
for only a portion of total earnings.

14. 20%
AMEX's Payout Ratio
The payout ratio is the percent of earnings
paid as dividends. Anywhere from 30% to
70% is normal.

15. 1.62%American Express' Dividend Yield

16. AMEX's
Dividend
Yield
=
Dividend
per Share
Share
Price
=
$1.16
$71.65
= 1.62%

17. You can then use this to compare
stocks based on their income-
generating potential.

18. 1.62%
3.57%
3.33%
2.72%
1.64%
0.71%
AMEX Exxon Walmart Wells
Fargo
Comcast Visa
Representative Dividend Yields

19. AMEX also buys back its own stock.

20. This reduces its share count, which
increases the ownership interest
of each remaining share.

21. $4.3
Billion
-4.5%
AMEX's
Buybacks
(TTM)
Change in
AMEX's Share
Count (TTM)

22. American Express' stock?
So, what does the future hold for

23. AMEX
51%
S&P 500
119%
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
150%
Today20132011200920072005
If the Past is Prologue...
Total return since Jan. 1, 2005

24. American Express' earnings to grow.
While it's impossible to predict the
future with precision, analysts expect

25. $5.28
$5.43
Current Fiscal Year Next Fiscal Year
Average Earnings per Share Estimate Among Wall
Street Analysts
Divining American Express' Future

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