KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Short Interest Up 8.0% in December

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,530,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 17,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KEY shares. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.44.

KeyCorp Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE KEY traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $18.32. The company had a trading volume of 17,405,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,603,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. KeyCorp has a 1 year low of $12.94 and a 1 year high of $20.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.18 and a 200-day moving average of $16.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 1,832.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.27.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KeyCorp will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlton L. Highsmith sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $648,988.96. This represents a 19.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 15,011 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $294,065.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 234,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,595,461.38. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in KeyCorp by 285.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KeyCorp during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 90.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KeyCorp in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in KeyCorp in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Company Profile

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.