Short Interest in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Expands By 28.6%

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 24,207,280 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the February 26th total of 18,826,139 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 17,014,567 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KeyCorp news, insider Andrew J. Paine III sold 65,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total transaction of $1,532,274.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 166,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,869,723.09. The trade was a 28.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total transaction of $1,354,417.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 261,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,633,493.25. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 161,506 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,481 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Community Bank acquired a new position in KeyCorp during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in KeyCorp in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Trading Down 0.1%

KeyCorp stock opened at $19.43 on Monday. KeyCorp has a 12-month low of $12.73 and a 12-month high of $23.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.69.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 15.97%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 131.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is currently 53.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore boosted their price objective on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Stephens lifted their target price on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on KeyCorp from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on KeyCorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KeyCorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.97.

KeyCorp Company Profile

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.