Bank of America Corp DE Sells 973,591 Shares of KeyCorp $KEY

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,670,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 973,591 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $113,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 79.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KEY. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KeyCorp from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.14.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of KEY opened at $22.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.70. KeyCorp has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $24.07.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. KeyCorp had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is presently 47.67%.

KeyCorp announced that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.