JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): An Insider’s Spouse and Related Companies Bought In

Bank of America is one peer for JPMorgan Chase, and we can also compare these banks to Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), and Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS). Wells Fargo is the odd one out of this group, as it is actually valued at a premium to book (P/B ratios for the other three banks are in the 0.6-0.8 range), though it is doing well in terms of its earnings with a trailing P/E of 11. This is higher than JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s multiple, but actually cheaper than some of the struggling- though, theoretically, improving- banks. Citi is valued at 17 times its trailing earnings, with Bank of America being even pricier on those terms, though analyst consensus for 2014 is for considerably stronger performance bringing each down to 9 times projected earnings (note that even this is a more expensive multiple than JPMorgan Chase’s). These two banks did increase their revenue and earnings in their most recent quarter compared to the same period in the previous year. Barclays does post a low forward P/E, and considering its cheapness in book terms it might be worth considering although its business- possibly because of higher exposure to Europe- has not been doing well recently.

We had been interested in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) before this insider purchases on the grounds of it being cheap in terms of both earnings and book; to see these buys from people and groups tied to a Board member makes the bank particularly worthy of further research as far as we are concerned. Of course, the fact that we have seen insider buys at both JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Bank of America might spark interest in large banks in general.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.