JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.40 Per Share

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of 1.40 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a 12.0% increase from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a payout ratio of 24.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect JPMorgan Chase & Co. to earn $19.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.7%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

JPM opened at $239.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $257.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $668.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.10. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 1 year low of $179.20 and a 1 year high of $280.25.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $4.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.78. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 20.96%. The firm had revenue of $42.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JPM. Baird R W raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $257.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wolfe Research raised JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $269.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.89.

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, COO Jennifer Piepszak sold 4,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.85, for a total transaction of $1,153,069.05. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 54,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,698,459.65. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robin Leopold sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.09, for a total value of $337,612.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $13,606,323.93. This trade represents a 2.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,326 shares of company stock valued at $12,448,445 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

An institutional investor recently raised its position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,841 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $11,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Company Profile

JPMorgan Chase & Co is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research.