Stock Buyback Program Authorized by KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) Board of Directors

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KeyCorp Stock Performance

Shares of KeyCorp stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.74. 7,806,176 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,757,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. KeyCorp has a 1 year low of $15.28 and a 1 year high of $23.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.37.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 17.03%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. KeyCorp’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that KeyCorp will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KEY shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on KeyCorp from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Argus raised their price target on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on KeyCorp from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on KeyCorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.18.

Insider Activity at KeyCorp

In related news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total transaction of $494,411.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 281,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,098,676.24. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.