A Good Day For The Payments Industry

The three big players in the payments industry -- Visa Inc V, Mastercard Inc MA and American Express Company AXP -- received positive ratings from research firms on Wednesday.

The stocks of these companies all trended upward Wednesday and were higher in Thursday's pre-market session.

The Eldest

Visa, the biggest company in the industry with a $160 billion market cap, saw Citigroup reiterate its Buy rating, setting a $295.00 price target. Other firms, such as Evercore ISI recently issued a Buy rating, accompanied by a $304.00 price target. Sterne Agee maintains a Buy rating and a $275.00 price target.

Related Link: Topeka Initiates Coverage On MasterCard And Visa

Topeka Capital Markets is not so bullish, however, and initiated coverage of the company in November with a Hold rating and $261 price target. Analyst John Williams said that he expects Visa to see revenue growth in the low-teens over the next three years, while earnings per share are expected in the high-teens during the same time frame.

The Middle Child

With a market cap of $97 billion, Mastercard had its Buy rating maintained at Citigroup, with a $98.00 price target. Last week, Keefe Bruyette & Woods also reiterated its positive Market Perform rating, with a $109.00 price target.

Evercore ISI also likes Mastercard. On December 1, it issued a Buy recommendation, escorted by a $110.00 price target.

However, same as in Visa’s case, Topeka Capital believes this stock to be a Hold case, with an $87.00 price target. John Williams expects similar growth figures to those for Visa, and "sees a slowing consumer spending in some markets, foreign exchange headwinds and a full valuation limiting near-term gains in shares."

Related Link: Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage On American Express, 'Sunny Blue Skies Ahead'

The Tyke

With a market cap of $93 billion, American Express in the smallest company in this list, but analysts like it the same. On Wednesday, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $110.00 price target. Specialist Cheryl Pate said, "We are Overweight Amex based on our expectation of accelerated US card spend, driven by 1) ramping consumer spending and 2) higher merchant penetration through OptBlue."

Keefe Bruyette & Woods recently restated its Market Perform rating for American Express, accompanied by a $117.00 price target.