KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Upgraded by Argus to Strong-Buy Rating

Argus upgraded shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KeyCorp from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.14.

KeyCorp Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:KEY opened at $22.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.02. KeyCorp has a 52 week low of $16.47 and a 52 week high of $24.07.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.67%.

KeyCorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 13% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at KeyCorp

In other news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total transaction of $494,411.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 281,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,098,676.24. This represents a 7.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KeyCorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,370,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,768,000 after acquiring an additional 17,245,128 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth $262,688,000. North Reef Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the first quarter valued at about $253,632,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,843,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 416.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,163,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,862,000 after purchasing an additional 5,776,417 shares during the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KeyCorp

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.