Short Interest in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Increases By 28.6%

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 24,207,280 shares, a growth of 28.6% from the February 26th total of 18,826,139 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 17,014,567 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

KeyCorp Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE KEY traded up $0.64 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,021,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,695,504. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.08. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $12.73 and a 1-year high of $23.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.70.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. KeyCorp had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. KeyCorp’s quarterly revenue was up 131.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KEY. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.87.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In other news, Director Trina M. Evans sold 32,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.74, for a total value of $710,789.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,551.06. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $1,354,417.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 261,415 shares in the company, valued at $5,633,493.25. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 161,506 shares of company stock valued at $3,597,481 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KeyCorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of KeyCorp in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.