Investors Purchase High Volume of KeyCorp Call Options (NYSE:KEY)

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 13,282 call options on the company. This is an increase of 84% compared to the average daily volume of 7,221 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlton L. Highsmith sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.14, for a total value of $154,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $648,988.96. This trade represents a 19.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 15,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 234,582 shares in the company, valued at $4,595,461.38. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KeyCorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KEY. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in KeyCorp by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 8,330 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in KeyCorp by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 30,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 5,687 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in KeyCorp by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in KeyCorp by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 413,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,186,000 after buying an additional 319,155 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $395,000. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KEY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on KeyCorp in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut shares of KeyCorp from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on KeyCorp from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on KeyCorp from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.44.

KeyCorp Price Performance

KEY traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $16.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,938,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,697,818. KeyCorp has a 12 month low of $12.94 and a 12 month high of $20.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.81. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,694.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8,200.00%.

About KeyCorp

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.