Better standards help limit their loan losses

Article Excerpt

Rising interest rates and inflation are forcing these banks to set aside more funds to cover potential bad loans. However, tougher lending standards introduced since the 2008 financial crisis will keep any losses low compared to the banks’ overall loan portfolios. J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $124 is a buy. The bank (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 2.9 billion; Market cap: $359.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) is the largest banking firm in the U.S., with total assets of $3.77 trillion as of September 30, 2022. In response to rising interest rates and inflation, Morgan set aside $1.54 billion to cover potential loan losses in the quarter ended September 30, 2022, compared to a net credit of $1.53 billion a year earlier. However, bad loans fell to 0.60% of total loans compared to the rate of 0.79% a year earlier. As well, Morgan incurred losses of $959 million, or $0.24 a share, to…