Top banks still attractive after recent gains

Article Excerpt

J.P. Morgan’s shares are up 12% since the start of 2024, while Wells Fargo has gained 24%. That’s largely because higher interest rates have increased their revenue. At the same time, loan provisions remain low in relation to their loan portfolios. Moreover, both stocks continue to trade at attractive multiples to their earnings. J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $193 is a buy. The bank (New York symbol JPM; Income Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 2.9 billion; Market cap: $5598.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) acquired most of the assets and deposits of failed California-based First Republic Bank for $10.6 billion in May 2023. The new operations contributed $668 million to Morgan’s earnings in the first quarter of 2024. The bank also set aside $1.88 billion to cover potential loan losses in the latest quarter, which is down 17.2% from $2.28 billion a year earlier. Those two factors helped lift Morgan’s earnings in the quarter by 6.1%, to $12.94…