North Dakota State Investment Board Takes Position in KeyCorp $KEY

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 32,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Community Bank purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

NYSE KEY opened at $21.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. KeyCorp has a 12-month low of $15.28 and a 12-month high of $23.34. The firm has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.06.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

KeyCorp announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.31%.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In other KeyCorp news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total transaction of $494,411.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KEY. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $24.50 to $22.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of KeyCorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.78.

KeyCorp Company Profile

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.