JPMorgan Chase & Co. (
JPM
) shares are trading slightly higher ahead of the company's
first-quarter earnings, expected out before the market opens
Wednesday. The stock is up0.17 percent Tuesday afternoon.
Analysts are looking for JPMorgan to report EPS of $1.16 on sales
of $25.48 billion. Last quarter, the New York, NY-based financial
institution posted EPS of $1.12 on revs of $26.1 billion. Looking
back at the first quarter of last year, EPS for JPMorgan were $0.74
and sales were $27.67 billion.
Shares gained 5.9 percent through the quarter and is up 1.9 percent
since then. JPMorgan shares closed-out 2010 about 0.6 percent lower
from the beginning of the year.
Comparing P/E's, JPM is currently trading at 8.4x FY12 EPS
estimates, vs. 7.2x for Bank of America (
BAC
), 8.6x for Citigroup (
C
), and 8.7x for Wells Fargo (
WFC
).
Data from Bloomberg has 25 analysts with a Buy on JPMorgan, 5 with
a Hold, and none suggesting to Sell. The analyst price target
average is $55.40, with a high of $61 and low of $50. Shares have
traded in a range of $48.36 - $35.16 over the last 52-weeks.
Analyst Summary
- Goldman Sachs recently increased its first-quarter EPS
estimate on JPMorgan from $1.16 to $1.20. JPMorgan is rated Buy
at Goldman Sachs, and is also on its esteemed Conviction Buy
List.
- Deutsche Bank is looking for EPS of $1.22. The firm believes
JPMorgan revs are likely to be flat in the quarter, with net
interest margin flat to down 5 basis points. Deutsche cites loan
runoff and repositioning in the Corporate securities book as the
two main catalysts. Deutsche is also looking for better trading
catalysts when compared to peers, likely down 15 to 20 percent
compared with down 20 to 40 percent for its peers. Expenses for
JPMorgan are likely to decline about six-percent in the quarter.
Credit card losses should be lower than expected at about 6.5
percent, and provision for loan losses should fall by about 10
percent quarter-over-quarter.
Deutsche likes the surprise dividend boost and buyback, but is
looking for more clarity on timing of the buyback as well as
JPMorgan's targeted capital level.
Deutsche has a Buy rating and $54 price target on JPMorgan.
- Wells Fargo is looking for EPS of $1.20 from JPMorgan. The
firm has an Outperform on JPMorgan, with valuation range of $51 -
$54.
JPMorgan's earnings report is expected to be out at approximately
7:00am EDT.
Stay tuned to StreetInsider.com's
EPS Insider
section to see our analysis of the highly-anticipated quarterly
results within seconds of their release.