American Express: An Owner's Manual for Investors

American Express' headquarters in New York City.

There are a number of specific details that investors in American Express should know about its stock. The slideshow below covers a handful of them, walking readers through a broad but brief analysis of the credit card giant from a shareholder's perspective.

The slideshow shows, among other things, that American Express rewards investors in multiple ways:

It pays out a fifth of its earnings via quarterly dividends.
It has bought back $4.3 billion worth of its own stock over the past 12 months, translating into a 4.5% decrease in American Express' outstanding share count.
And although its shares dived last year, after the company announced that it would no longer be the exclusive credit card used at Costco, its stock has generally tracked the S&P 500 over the past decade.

To learn more about American Express, scroll through the slideshow below, which is designed to serve as an owner's manual for the company's shareholders.

All data in the slideshow was sourced from YCharts.com on Nov. 30, 2015. Image sources: iStock/Thinkstock, Wikimedia Commons.

The article American Express: An Owner's Manual for Investors originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool recommends American Express. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.