Deepen your returns with these American banks

Article Excerpt

Lower interest rates in the U.S.—along with the possibility of more rate cuts in 2020—continue to limit earnings growth for these two lenders. However, investors continue to benefit from their strong businesses: demand for new loans remains high, while their loan losses remain low; and both continue to cut costs, providing the kind of solid earnings they need to keep rewarding you with higher dividends. J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO. $134 is a buy. The largest U.S. bank (New York symbol JPM; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares o/s: 3.1 billion; Market cap: $415.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.7%; Divd. Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.jpmorganchase.com) last raised its quarterly dividend with the October 2019 payment by an impressive 12.5%. Investors now receive $0.90 a share. The annual rate of $3.60 yields 2.7%. Investors saw Morgan’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019 rise 8.5%, to $28.3 billion from $26.1 billion a year earlier. Earnings jumped 20.6%, to $8.52 billion from $7.07 billion. Per-share earnings gained 29.8%, to…