Buy JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)?

The bank reported first-quarter profit of $0.20 per share, missing analyst expectations. Bank of America has had to set aside gigantic sums of money for legal expenses. In the first quarter, the bank had litigation expenses of $881 million.

These expenses have hurt profitability and impeded the company’s ability to reward shareholders. The bank hasn’t been able to increase its dividend past a token level of $0.01 per share quarterly.

Bank on increased shareholder rewards going forward

Thankfully, the banks’ increasing financial success is being shared with investors. Both JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) have begun to pay dividends again, after slashing their payouts down to pennies per share during the depths of the financial crisis.

Impressively, Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) has raised its dividend in two consecutive quarters. The company yields 3% and its annual dividend payment is up 36% from its payout level one year ago.

Likewise, JPMorgan is back to paying shareholders a healthy dividend, which yields nearly 3% at recent prices. On that basis, I’d consider both Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) as best-of-breed banking giants in the United States.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) trades for just 9 times trailing earnings per share, and is poised to grow further as a result of several positive industry catalysts. As a result, I consider JPMorgan to be an attractive stock at current prices and a compelling buying opportunity on any significant pullback.

Robert Ciura has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC).

Robert is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

The article Should You Buy JPMorgan Chase? originally appeared on Fool.com.

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