KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) to Buyback $1.00 billion in Stock

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on KeyCorp from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson dropped their price target on KeyCorp from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on KeyCorp from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised KeyCorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of KeyCorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.64.

KeyCorp Price Performance

Shares of KEY stock opened at $15.68 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.26. KeyCorp has a one year low of $13.11 and a one year high of $20.04.

KeyCorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently -273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Of Nova Scotia Bank purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.85 per share, for a total transaction of $892,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 162,983,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,909,259,509.10. The trade was a 0.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

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.