Korea Investment CORP Invests $56.15 Million in KeyCorp $KEY

Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,435,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,147,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,039,113,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 valued at $679,768,000 after acquiring an additional 17,245,128 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $380,244,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth about $262,688,000. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 1st quarter worth about $253,632,000. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KEY shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Stephens began coverage on KeyCorp in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.14.

KeyCorp Price Performance

KEY opened at $21.89 on Friday. KeyCorp has a 52-week low of $16.47 and a 52-week high of $24.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.79. The company has a market cap of $23.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.67%.

KeyCorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 buy up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.