Topic: Growth Stocks

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $69 New York symbol JPM

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $69 (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.7 billion; Market cap: $255.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) has four main divisions: Consumer and Community Banking, which includes branches and credit cards (45% of 2014 revenue, 44% of earnings); Corporate and Investment Bank, including brokerage and underwriting services (36%, 33%); Asset Management (12%, 10%); and Commercial Banking (7%, 13%). About 75% of Morgan’s revenue comes from the U.S.

The bank’s revenue fell 8.3%, from $102.7 billion in 2010 to $94.2 billion in 2014. That’s mainly because it sold some operations to cut its exposure to riskier businesses, such as owning and trading commodities. Low interest rates have also hurt the revenue it receives from new loans.

Even so, earnings jumped 22.5%, from $17.4 billion in 2010 to $21.3 billion in 2012. Per-share profits gained 31.3%, from $3.96 to $5.20, on fewer shares outstanding. Morgan continues to settle lawsuits related to its role in the 2008 financial crisis. As a result, its 2013 earnings fell to $4.35 a share (or a total of $17.9 billion). Earnings recovered to $5.29 a share (or $21.8 billion) in 2014.

Morgan continues to benefit as more borrowers repay their loans on time. It set aside just $3.1 billion to cover potential loan losses in 2014, down 81.1% from $16.6 billion in 2010.

Online focus will cut costs

The bank is now simplifying its operations to lower its costs. For example, it plans to close 300 of its 5,600 branches by the end of 2016, as more customers are banking online. Morgan also wants its branches to focus more on advising clients instead of processing transactions. These moves should help cut $2.0 billion from its yearly expenses by 2017.

Morgan’s 2015 earnings should improve to $5.85 a share, and the stock trades at just 11.8 times that forecast. The bank recently raised its quarterly dividend by 10.0%, to $0.44 a share from $0.40. The new annual rate of $1.76 yields 2.6%.

J.P. Morgan Chase is a buy.

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