Short Interest in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Rises By 12.2%

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,590,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the February 29th total of 23,690,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 16,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on KeyCorp from $12.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on KeyCorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on KeyCorp from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on KeyCorp from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KeyCorp news, Director Trina M. Evans sold 12,335 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.23, for a total value of $175,527.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 81,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,161,481.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Trina M. Evans sold 12,335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.23, for a total transaction of $175,527.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 81,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,161,481.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Douglas M. Schosser sold 3,326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $46,564.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,795 shares in the company, valued at $277,130. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,442 shares of company stock worth $303,914. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KeyCorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,201,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,488,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,193 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in KeyCorp by 4.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,937,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $867,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177,314 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in KeyCorp by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,193,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194,413 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 3.2% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,342,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,006,000 after purchasing an additional 993,215 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in KeyCorp by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 31,781,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $341,969,000 after buying an additional 3,992,226 shares during the period. 79.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KeyCorp Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE KEY traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,213,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,663,645. The company has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.99. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $8.53 and a 1-year high of $15.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts predict that KeyCorp will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.13%.

KeyCorp Company Profile

KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.