North Reef Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 12,650,000 KeyCorp $KEY

North Reef Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,650,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,632,000. KeyCorp makes up about 8.7% of North Reef Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 5,317.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,350,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325,588 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 204,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 83,367 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,602,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,638,000 after acquiring an additional 721,421 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 220,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after acquiring an additional 84,497 shares during the period. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its stake in KeyCorp by 298.1% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 75,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 56,736 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KeyCorp from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Susquehanna raised 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. Stephens began coverage on KeyCorp in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on KeyCorp from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KeyCorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.14.

KeyCorp Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KEY opened at $22.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $16.47 and a 1-year high of $24.07. The stock has a market cap of $24.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.60.

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

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.67%.

KeyCorp declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total value of $494,411.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 281,564 shares in the company, 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 is available through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KeyCorp Company 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.