Use these key updates to build your returns

Article Excerpt

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $115 is a buy. The U.S. banking giant (New York symbol JPM; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 3.0 billion; Market cap: $345.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) raised your quarterly dividend with the October 2021 payment by 11.1%, to $1.00 a share from $0.90. The new annual rate of $4.00 yields 3.5%. Due to rising fears of a recession, triggered by higher interest rates and inflation, Morgan set aside $1.10 billion to cover potential loan losses in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to a net credit of $2.29 billion a year earlier. As a result, earnings in the quarter fell 27.0%, to $2.76 a share (or a total of $8.65 billion) from $3.78 a share (or $11.95 billion) a year earlier. In light of the current uncertainty, Morgan has temporarily suspended its plan to buy back $30 billion of its shares. However, the bank should benefit from rising interest rates, which will let…