Company Update: JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – Ally Financial taps J.P. Morgan to advise on activist fight

[Reuters] – Ally Financial Inc has hired J.P. Morgan to advise the largest U.S. auto lender as it fends off activist hedge fund Lion Point Capital’s campaign for changes at the company, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Lion Point, co-founded in 2014 by former portfolio managers from Elliott Management and Perry Capital, has asked Ally to extend its board director nomination deadline of Jan. 4 to consider two of its candidates. Ally did not extend the deadline but said it would consider the firm’s candidates. Read more on this. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) , with a current value of $203.36B, started the session at $55.74. Looking at the equity, the company’s one day range is $55.06 to $56.52 and has traded between $50.07 and $70.61 over the past year. JPM shares are currently priced at 9.35x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 14.53x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $1.76 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.09%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 27 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $1.52 per share, which would be $0.07 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.04 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $6.10, which would be a $0.10 better when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $24.78 Billion. If reported, that would be a 0.16% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Atlantic Equities upgraded JPM from Neutral to Overweight (Jan 15, 2016). Previously, Goldman downgraded JPM from Buy to Neutral. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $72.26, which is 29.64% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:JPM) Similar Articles: Company Update: JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – J.P. Morgan leads a huge investment in this hot cloud startup Stock Update: JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – J.P. Morgan Asset Management Expands ETF Strategic Beta Suite with US Equity ETF: JPUS Company Update: JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) – MOVES-J.P. Morgan Asset Management appoints Diana Amoa senior portfolio manager