KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Baird R W

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) was downgraded by analysts at Baird R W from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on KeyCorp in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KeyCorp in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut KeyCorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird cut KeyCorp from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $17.00 price target on KeyCorp in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.97.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of KEY stock opened at $18.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. KeyCorp has a fifty-two week low of $12.73 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04. The company has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -108.56, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.32.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.01. KeyCorp had a positive return on equity of 9.43% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Mohit Ramani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.75 per share, with a total value of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Amy G. Brady sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.09, for a total value of $305,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 82,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,327,795.07. This represents a 18.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 7.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,345,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,004,273,000 after purchasing an additional 8,412,625 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 40.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 50,954,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,756,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,281 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,431,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $761,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,405 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 12.2% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,511,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $487,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,349,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,332 shares in the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.