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

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 13,282 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 84% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,221 call options.

Insider Activity at KeyCorp

In other news, Director Carlton L. Highsmith sold 9,000 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.14, for a total transaction of $154,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Angela G. Mago sold 15,011 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $294,065.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 234,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,595,461.38. The trade was 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in KeyCorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,413,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of KeyCorp by 280.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,976,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,364,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668,168 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 108.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,852,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $98,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042,060 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in KeyCorp by 164.9% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 4,660,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900,971 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in KeyCorp by 279.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,788,173 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790,192 shares during the last quarter. 79.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

KEY stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.14. The company had a trading volume of 9,865,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,341,508. The company has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,714.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27. KeyCorp has a twelve month low of $12.94 and a twelve month high of $20.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.81.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. KeyCorp's payout ratio is presently 8,200.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KEY. Citigroup cut KeyCorp from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on KeyCorp from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Baird R W lowered shares of KeyCorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of KeyCorp from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $18.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KeyCorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.44.

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.