Traders Purchase Large Volume of KeyCorp Call Options (NYSE:KEY)

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 11,546 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 34% compared to the average volume of 8,594 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KeyCorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 90.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,370,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,768,000 after buying an additional 17,245,128 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 50,954,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,756,000 after acquiring an additional 14,651,281 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,788,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,546,000 after acquiring an additional 13,067,326 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KeyCorp during the 2nd quarter worth $195,642,000. Finally, HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the second quarter valued at about $86,995,000. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KeyCorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.91.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of KEY opened at $20.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.99 and its 200-day moving average is $17.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. KeyCorp has a 12 month low of $12.73 and a 12 month high of $20.67.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 10.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.47) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 172.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is 101.23%.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.