Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in KeyCorp $KEY

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in KeyCorp, buying 12.7 million shares valued at about $262.7 million and ending with roughly 1.16% ownership of the bank.
• Institutional interest in KeyCorp remains strong, with firms like Vanguard, Wellington Management, and Capital World Investors increasing their positions; overall, about 79.69% of the stock is institutionally owned.
• KeyCorp reported solid quarterly results and returned cash to shareholders, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend and a $3 billion share buyback program.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,727,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $262,688,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.16% of KeyCorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in KeyCorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,811,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,576,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,323 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 17,245,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $493,048,000 after acquiring an additional 115,968 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in KeyCorp by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,788,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,546,000 after acquiring an additional 13,067,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in KeyCorp by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,799,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $295,295,000 after acquiring an additional 397,523 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on KEY shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut KeyCorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.78.

KeyCorp Stock Up 1.4%

KeyCorp stock opened at $21.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.03. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $15.59 and a 1-year high of $23.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.70.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.93 billion. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 17.03%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be given a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. KeyCorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.31%.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at KeyCorp

In other news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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