Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in KeyCorp $KEY

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,111,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,842,495 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $226,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KEY. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 8,775.0% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. United Community Bank bought a new position in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in KeyCorp by 1,246.1% during the third quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 1,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in KeyCorp during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KeyCorp in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 62,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,633,493.25. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Trina M. Evans sold 32,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 58,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,551.06. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KEY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $18.00 price objective on shares of KeyCorp and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Argus upped their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KeyCorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.90.

KeyCorp Stock Up 2.4%

KEY stock opened at $23.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.95 and a 200 day moving average of $19.17. KeyCorp has a 52 week low of $12.73 and a 52 week high of $23.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.10.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. KeyCorp had a net margin of 15.97% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 131.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.95%.

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.