Groupe la Francaise Makes New $5.03 Million Investment in KeyCorp $KEY

Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 218,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 162,996,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,268,076,000 after acquiring an additional 900,951 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in KeyCorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,039,113,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 valued at $679,768,000 after purchasing an additional 17,245,128 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 2,126.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,165,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,357,000 after purchasing an additional 29,765,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,983,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,048,000 after purchasing an additional 115,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of KeyCorp stock opened at $22.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.02. KeyCorp has a 52 week low of $16.47 and a 52 week high of $24.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. KeyCorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KEY shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on KeyCorp from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.14.

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.