Morgan Stanley Cuts KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Price Target to $24.00

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on KEY. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $19.00 target price on shares of KeyCorp and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price target on KeyCorp from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KeyCorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.87.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

KeyCorp stock opened at $20.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.71. KeyCorp has a 52-week low of $12.73 and a 52-week high of $23.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.95 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 131.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that KeyCorp will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.95%.

Insider Activity

In other KeyCorp news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $1,354,417.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,493.25. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew J. Paine III sold 65,961 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total value of $1,532,274.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 166,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,869,723.09. This trade represents a 28.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 161,506 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,481 over the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KeyCorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in KeyCorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in KeyCorp by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in KeyCorp by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 44,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in KeyCorp by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 12,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

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.