Wealthstar Advisors LLC Takes Position in KeyCorp $KEY

Key Points

• Wealthstar Advisors LLC opened a new position in KeyCorp during the first quarter, buying 66,897 shares valued at about $1.34 million. Institutional investors now own a large majority of the company, at 79.69%.
• KeyCorp reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $0.44 per share versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $1.95 billion versus $1.93 billion estimated. Revenue also rose 10.2% year over year.
• The company’s board authorized a $3 billion share repurchase program and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.205 per share, implying an annualized yield of 3.6%.

Wealthstar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 66,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,341,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in KeyCorp in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 1,263.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,718 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KeyCorp news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the company'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 value of $494,411.16. Following the sale, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of KEY opened at $22.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.99 and a 200-day moving average of $21.36. KeyCorp has a one year low of $16.47 and a one year high of $23.72. The company has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 10.80%. KeyCorp's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 13% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp's payout ratio is 50.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KEY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised KeyCorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KeyCorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.55.

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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