Legal & General Group Plc Invests $142.17 Million in KeyCorp $KEY

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,167,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,169,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEY. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in KeyCorp during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in KeyCorp in the second quarter worth about $30,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in KeyCorp in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KEY. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on KeyCorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on KeyCorp from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.14.

KeyCorp Price Performance

KEY opened at $22.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.77. KeyCorp has a twelve month low of $16.47 and a twelve month high of $24.07.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 11.23%. KeyCorp’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Equities analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.67%.

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

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.