Wall Street Zen Downgrades KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded KeyCorp from “hold” to “sell,” making it the lone bearish call among recent analyst updates. Overall, analysts still view the stock more favorably, with 12 Buy ratings, 7 Hold ratings and an average target price of $23.18.
• KeyCorp’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.44 versus the $0.41 consensus and revenue of $1.95 billion, up 10.2% year over year. The company also reported a 17.03% net margin and 10.80% return on equity.
• The stock was down about 0.4% and last traded at $21.61, near the middle of its 52-week range of $15.28 to $23.34. Institutional ownership remains high at 79.69%, with several large funds recently increasing their stakes.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on KEY. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.18.

KeyCorp Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE KEY opened at $21.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $15.28 and a 1-year high of $23.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day moving average of $20.27. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Institutional Trading of KeyCorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KEY. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 90.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,370,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $679,768,000 after buying an additional 17,245,128 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 169.2% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,788,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $388,546,000 after buying an additional 13,067,326 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $262,688,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $150,843,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 416.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,163,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $147,862,000 after buying an additional 5,776,417 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company's stock.

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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