Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,141,231 KeyCorp $KEY

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,141,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,305,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in KeyCorp by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 5.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 15,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its position in KeyCorp by 1.7% during the first quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 32,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE KEY opened at $21.88 on Friday. KeyCorp has a 12 month low of $16.47 and a 12 month high of $24.07. The stock has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 17.83%.The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is 47.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on KEY shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of KeyCorp in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of KeyCorp in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.14.

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.