Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 24,929 Shares of KeyCorp $KEY

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 44.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,929 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KEY. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 169.2% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,788,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,546,000 after acquiring an additional 13,067,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $262,688,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $150,843,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 416.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,163,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,862,000 after purchasing an additional 5,776,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on KeyCorp from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.55.

KeyCorp Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE KEY opened at $23.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.33. KeyCorp has a one year low of $16.47 and a one year high of $23.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 17.03%.The company’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is presently 50.31%.

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.