UPDATE: Nomura Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on American Express Company on Above-Consensus 2014 EPS Estimate

In a report published Thursday, Nomura analyst Bill Carcache reiterated a Buy rating on American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), and raised the price target from $73.00 to $89.00.In the report, Nomura noted, “AXP shares lost their luster during the crisis but are now shining once again. Like the net worth of its affluent customers, the shares continue to hit new all-time highs. We expect AXP's strong performance to continue as we look ahead. Our confidence is rooted in expense actions that are bearing fruit, fee-based revenue streams that are set to scale, and strong core business trends that appear likely to persist. We think consensus still underestimates AXP's ability to control expenses. We're raising our price target to $89, which is based on 16x our above-consensus 2014 EPS estimate of $5.59 (our previous $73 PT was based on 13x).”American Express Company closed on Wednesday at $75.83.