With profit growth like that, it's no wonder many
big banks are
boasting low payout ratios (the percentage of earnings headed out the
door as dividends) these days, like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), whose ratio (orange line below) sits at an ultra-safe 36.8 % as I write, even as management has cranked up the dividend by 40 % in just the past 4 years (blue line):