(Corrects to show shares rose, not fell in last paragraph)
By David Henry and Sweta Singh
Feb 28 (Reuters) - No. 1 U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co may return more money to shareholders than it earns over the next few years, it forecast on Tuesday, an encouraging sign for investors who have been waiting for richer dividends and share repurchases.
The prediction came in documents posted on JPMorgan's website for its annual investor day, where top executives offered their vision for the four major business lines and financial targets for the broader institution.
Although JPMorgan is sticking to its long-term target of returning 55 percent to 75 percent of net income to shareholders, the bank could pay out as much as 120 percent in the medium term, according to a presentation. That would mean JPMorgan is generating more than enough profit to invest in its businesses and meet regulatory capital requirements, and can even reduce some of that capital.
The new prediction is up from a 65 percent medium-term scenario that JPMorgan offered last year.
"It does feel like we have reached an inflection point for capital," Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said at the event.
There is "no good reason" why JPMorgan could not have a capital ratio at the lower end of a targeted range, she added. The bank aims to maintain enough high-quality capital to cover 11 percent to 12.5 percent of its risk-weighted assets.
Big U.S. banks have encountered a slew of new capital requirements in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, many of them implemented over a period of years. They also must get their capital plans approved by the Federal Reserve through an annual stress test, meaning that banks cannot unilaterally decide to increase dividends or share repurchases.
Prior to the crisis, it was not unusual for big banks to distribute all of their earnings to shareholders. JPMorgan, the largest U.S. lender, has managed to stay ahead of capital requirements while increasing earnings and boosting payouts, but not to that level. Last year, it returned $15 billion to shareholders, roughly 61 percent of earnings.
At Tuesday's confab at JPMorgan's headquarters in New York, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and other top executives mingled with investors, analysts and reporters. It drew hundreds of money managers who got a chance to press managers about a wide range of topics, from geopolitics to expense ratios.
Dimon said he remains confident about the U.S. economy. "The future is very bright," Dimon said, adding that the outlook will be even better if the federal government overhauls corporate taxes, thins out redundant regulation and boosts spending on public infrastructure.