What’s So Special About KeyCorp?

With shares of KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) trading at around $8.96, is KEY an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let’s analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

C = Catalyst for the Stock’s Movement

The answer to the question in the title is: nothing. At first glance, you might think that’s a negative. However, that’s not the case at all. Look at the banking industry over the past decade. Exotic and creative schemes is what got banks into trouble. Perhaps greed was the biggest player of all, but when it comes to banking, exotic and creative lead to greed. They are avenues to accomplish a devilish goal. Let’s refrain from going on too much of a tangent here. The ultimate point is that KeyCorp is returning to lending, which is what banks should be about. This is also a company that has been around for 160 years, yet it still only does business in 14 states. That’s discipline.

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KeyCorp is getting a lot of love from the street right now. Terry McEvoy of Oppenheimer Securities upgraded the stock to Outperform from Perform, and set a price target of $11.00. The catalyst is expected to be improved geographic strategy. Jim Cramer feels the same way. He loves the stock and feels that the company will benefit from a resurgence in the heartland. He also stated that KeyCorp was “an undervalued regional.”

Let’s take a look at some important numbers for KeyCorp.