Franklin Resources Inc. Has $312.43 Million Stock Position in KeyCorp $KEY

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,137,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 662,348 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $312,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 1,263.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total value of $494,411.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 281,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,098,676.24. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $24.50 to $22.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.78.

KeyCorp Price Performance

NYSE:KEY opened at $22.07 on Wednesday. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $15.59 and a 1-year high of $23.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.03.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last released its 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 net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 13% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.31%.

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.