Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Position in KeyCorp $KEY

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 2.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,799,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 397,523 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $295,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KEY. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in KeyCorp by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 84,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 24,627 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in KeyCorp by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,218 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in KeyCorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Finally, Nwam LLC raised its position in shares of KeyCorp by 13.8% during the second quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 14,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KEY shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of KeyCorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson set a $25.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Twelve research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew J. Paine III sold 65,961 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.23, for a total value of $1,532,274.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 166,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,869,723.09. This trade represents a 28.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $1,354,417.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 261,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,633,493.25. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 161,506 shares of company stock worth $3,597,481. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of KEY opened at $19.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.35 and its 200 day moving average is $19.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. KeyCorp has a fifty-two week low of $12.73 and a fifty-two week high of $23.34.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. KeyCorp had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. KeyCorp’s quarterly revenue was up 131.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.95%.

KeyCorp 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.