Shares of American Express Co. AXP, -1.00% rose 0.3% in morning trading Thursday, to buck the selloff in its financial peers and the broader stock market, after the credit card and travel-related services company raised its dividend by about 21%. The stock was one of just six of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s DJIA, -0.69% 30 components that was gaining ground. The company said its new quarterly dividend of 52 cents a share, up from 43 cents, will be payable May 10 to shareholders of record on April 8. Based on current stock prices, the new annual dividend rate would imply a dividend yield of 1.23%, compared with the yield for the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF XLF, -0.71% of 1.74% and the implied yield for the S&P 500 SPX, -1.30% of 1.51%. AmEx’s stock has gained 1.3% over the past three months, while the financial ETF has shed 6.2% and the Dow has lost 8.2%.
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