KeyCorp Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:KEY)

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 60,344 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 646% compared to the average daily volume of 8,086 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on KeyCorp from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KeyCorp from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KeyCorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.26.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In other KeyCorp news, Director Carlton L. Highsmith sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.14, for a total value of $154,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,988.96. This trade represents a 19.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 15,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $294,065.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 234,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,595,461.38. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 274.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 332,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,251,000 after buying an additional 243,437 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 116.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 155,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 83,601 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 8.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 236,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 19,052 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of KeyCorp by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 147,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 14,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KEY opened at $19.11 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.15. KeyCorp has a fifty-two week low of $12.76 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04. The firm has a market cap of $18.94 billion, a PE ratio of 1,911.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is currently 8,200.00%.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.