Banking, finance, and taxes

J.P. Morgan Dividend Disappointment Confirmed

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was a bank we already knew was effectively denied permission to raise its dividend. If you have tracked the stress tests and the return of capital plan approvals, you knew that the chance of a higher dividend was low. That being said, many investors still hoped for a higher payout. You can thank the debacle around the London Whale for the disappointment. Now we have confirmation that Jamie Dimon and friends are not going to try to lean further against the Federal Reserve and regulators to press for a more aggressive return of capital to its shareholders.

The banking giant has what Wall St. calls a fortress balance sheet with total assets of assets of $2.4 trillion. The company just issued a press release showing that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per common share per quarter. The dividend is payable on April 30, 2013, to its holders of record as of the close of business on April 5, 2013.

Be advised that this will mark the fifth quarter in a row at $0.30 for its dividend to common holders. It had been widely expected that its dividend would be raised, but the stress tests and the aftermath of the stress tests showed that this was not going to happen in the past two weeks.

The stock is down 1.2% at $48.90, after recently hitting a new multiyear high of $51.00. The dividend yield is about 2.4%, and now investors are going to have to wait that much longer for J.P. Morgan to raise its dividend.

As a reminder, J.P. Morgan is still on our list of the Safest Banks in America for 2013.

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