Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan stock is too expensive: 'We're not going to buy back a lot'

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Jamie Dimon thinks shares of JPMorgan Chase are expensive.

That was the message the bank's longtime CEO gave analysts Monday during JPMorgan's annual investor meeting. When pressed about the timing of a potential boost to the bank's share repurchase program, Dimon didn't mince words.

«I want to make it really clear, OK? We're not going to buy back a lot of stock at these prices,» Dimon said.

JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has seen its shares surge 40% over the past year, reaching a 52-week high of $205.88 on Monday before Dimon's comments dinged the stock. That 12-month performance beats other banks, especially smaller firms recovering from the 2023 regional banking crisis.

It also makes the stock relatively pricey as measured by price to tangible book value, a commonly used industry metric. JPMorgan shares traded recently for around 2.4 times book value.

«Buying back stock of a financial company greatly in excess of two times tangible book is a mistake,» Dimon said. «We aren't going to do it.»

Dimon's comments about his company's stock, as well as an acknowledgement that he may be nearing retirement, sent the bank's shares down 4.5% Monday.

To be clear, JPMorgan has been repurchasing its stock under a previously authorized buyback plan. The bank resumed buybacks early last year after taking a pause to build up capital under new expected guidelines.

Dimon's guidance simply means that it's unlikely the program will be boosted anytime soon. JPMorgan is likely to purchase shares at a $2 billion to $2.5 billion quarterly clip, Portales Partners analyst Charles Peabody wrote in a March research note.

Dimon's desire to hoard cash isn't just because of impending capital rules. On multiple occasions