5 Best January Dividend Stocks to Buy

2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 110

Dividend Yield as of 2/3: 2.84%

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of the four biggest banks in the United States with one of the best CEOs in the industry with Jamie Dimon. As a result, the company has considerable earnings power in normal economic conditions if it makes the right loans. In terms of capital returns, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has a pretty attractive dividend yield of 2.84% as of 2/3. The bank may also potentially restart its stock buyback program this year if economic conditions don’t worsen too much.

Vltava Fund commented on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in a Q3 2022 investor letter,

We regard JPM to be the strongest and best- managed bank in the world. It is a leader in investment banking, commercial banking, credit cards, and asset management. Its size (the largest bank in the USA, with nearly USD 4,000 billion in assets) and diversification give it a strong competitive advantage that is compounded by its cost advantages and the high costs to clients associated with switching banks. JPM’s management prides itself on running the only large bank to avoid major instability over the long term.

JP Morgan’s quality and strength first became fully evident in 2008 under the leadership of its CEO Jamie Dimon. Not only did JP Morgan help to stabilize the market by taking over the failing Bear Stearns in the spring of that year, but throughout the Great Financial Crisis it was the only big US bank that did not require government assistance and it was highly profitable even in the difficult year of 2008.

A well-functioning and efficient bank can be a very good long-term investment, because the interest compounding effect works well here. JPM’s return on equity (ROE) is well into the double digits and this puts it in a good position to continue producing better long-term returns than does the market. JPM has been very profitable even during years when interest rates were close to zero. The current – and perhaps not temporary – return to somewhat more normal, higher interest rates should have a significantly positive impact on the bank’s interest income and overall profitability.