KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $24.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. KeyCorp traded as high as $23.35 and last traded at $23.03, with a volume of 11993627 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.21.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price objective on KeyCorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $18.00 target price on KeyCorp and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird downgraded KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.03.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In other KeyCorp news, Director Trina M. Evans sold 32,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.74, for a total transaction of $710,789.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,719 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,551.06. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $1,354,417.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,493.25. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of KeyCorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in KeyCorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,811,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,576,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,323 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 90.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,370,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,768,000 after purchasing an additional 17,245,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,676,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,084,000 after purchasing an additional 359,573 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 2.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,112,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,783,000 after purchasing an additional 488,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in KeyCorp by 169.2% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,788,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,546,000 after purchasing an additional 13,067,326 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 15.97%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 131.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KeyCorp will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is currently 53.95%.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, that operates through its primary banking subsidiary, KeyBank. It provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. KeyBank’s offerings span traditional deposit and lending products as well as more specialized financial solutions designed for commercial and institutional clients.

The company’s product and service mix includes retail banking products such as checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, and auto financing.