Verity & Verity LLC Acquires 18,660 Shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY)

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY – Get Rating) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 180,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,660 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $3,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 88,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 252,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in KeyCorp by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. 82.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KeyCorp Trading Down 6.1 %

Shares of KEY stock opened at $11.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.64. KeyCorp has a 1-year low of $9.60 and a 1-year high of $24.62.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.17). KeyCorp had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 27th. KeyCorp’s payout ratio is 42.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of KeyCorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $18.50 to $16.50 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KeyCorp news, insider Amy G. Brady sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.58, for a total value of $701,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,855,905.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other KeyCorp news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 5,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total value of $106,772.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 194,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,886. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Amy G. Brady sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.58, for a total value of $701,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,855,905.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About KeyCorp

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KeyCorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance, student loan refinancing, commercial mortgage servicing and special servicing, and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate, and institutional clients.