First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stake in KeyCorp $KEY

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its KeyCorp stake by 76.6% in the first quarter, ending with 2.95 million shares valued at about $59.2 million.
• KeyCorp beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $0.44 versus estimates of $0.42, while revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $1.96 billion.
• The bank also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.205 per share and a new $3 billion share buyback program, signaling continued capital return to shareholders.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Free Report) by 76.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,951,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,280,125 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.27% of KeyCorp worth $59,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,325,588 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in KeyCorp by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 220,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,552,000 after buying an additional 84,497 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in KeyCorp by 14.8% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 721,421 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in KeyCorp by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 204,993 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 83,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in KeyCorp by 298.1% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 75,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,564,000 after buying an additional 56,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEY has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KeyCorp from $22.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Susquehanna lifted 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on KeyCorp from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KeyCorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total transaction of $494,411.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 281,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,098,676.24. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KeyCorp Trading Down 0.4%

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

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. KeyCorp's payout ratio is currently 47.67%.

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

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.

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