12,727,117 Shares in KeyCorp $KEY Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,727,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,688,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEY. United Community Bank purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total value of $494,411.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 281,564 shares in the company, valued at $6,098,676.24. The trade was a 7.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KeyCorp Price Performance

Shares of KeyCorp stock opened at $21.20 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $15.59 and a twelve month high of $23.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.70. The firm has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.03.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 17.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. KeyCorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is currently 50.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on KeyCorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KeyCorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.78.

KeyCorp 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.