KeyCorp (KEY) Stock Price & How to Invest

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is the Cleveland, Ohio holding company for KeyBank National Association, one of the larger regional banks in the United States, with roughly $189 billion in assets as of early 2026. It operates through two segments: the Consumer Bank, which offers deposits, mortgages, home equity, credit cards, student-loan refinancing (through its national Laurel Road digital brand), and financial-wellness services to individuals and small businesses across a 15-state branch footprint, and the Commercial Bank, which serves middle-market clients in seven industry verticals (consumer, energy, healthcare, industrial, public sector, real estate, and technology) with lending, treasury management, and capital-markets services. Like other banks, KeyCorp makes money in two broad ways: net interest income, the spread between what it earns on loans and securities and what it pays on deposits, and noninterest fee income from investment banking, payments, wealth management, and service charges.

KeyCorp's recent story is a recovery. In 2024 the bank repositioned its securities portfolio (selling low-yielding bonds at a loss to reinvest at higher rates), a move funded in part by a roughly $2.8 billion minority investment from The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), which now holds a strategic stake of about 14.9%. That repositioning, plus a more favorable rate environment, drove net interest income and the net interest margin sharply higher through 2025 and into 2026. In the first quarter of 2026 KeyCorp reported net income to common shareholders of about $486 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, up roughly 33% year over year, on revenue of about $1.95 billion, with net interest income up about 11% to roughly $1.23 billion, a net interest margin of about 2.87%, record investment-banking fees, a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of about 11.4%, and continued share buybacks. The stock carries a market capitalization of roughly $25 billion and pays a quarterly dividend.

KeyCorp is highly sensitive to interest rates: net interest income is its largest revenue line, so falling rates, an inverted yield curve, or deposit repricing can compress the net interest margin and earnings. As an economically cyclical regional bank, it is exposed to the credit cycle, where a recession or rising unemployment would increase loan losses; commercial real estate and leveraged commercial lending are areas investors watch closely, though credit metrics were healthy in early 2026 (net charge-offs around 38 basis points). Deposit competition from larger banks, online banks, and money-market funds can raise funding costs. The 2024 securities repositioning was executed at a realized loss, and any renewed rate volatility could pressure the securities book again. Finally, regional banks broadly face heightened regulatory scrutiny and capital requirements after the 2023 regional-bank stress, and Scotiabank's large minority stake, while a source of capital, concentrates a significant block of ownership with a single strategic holder.

19 analysts publish price targets on KEY, averaging $26.02 against a $22.59 price as of August 2026, or +15.2%. The published targets run from $22.00 to $43.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 10 buy, 9 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 10 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full KEY forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on KeyCorp. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Net interest income and margin recovery. After the 2024 securities repositioning, KeyCorp's net interest income has grown at a double-digit pace, reaching about $1.23 billion in Q1 2026 (up ~11% year over year) with a net interest margin near 2.87%. The most optimistic published target, $43.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. KeyCorp is highly sensitive to interest rates: net interest income is its largest revenue line, so falling rates, an inverted yield curve, or deposit repricing can compress the net interest margin and earnings. The most pessimistic target, $22.00, is roughly what KEY is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on KEY, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see KeyCorp's investor relations page or your broker.

• Total Assets: ~$189 billion (Q1 2026)
• Q1 2026 Total Revenue: ~$1.95 billion (up ~10% YoY)
• Q1 2026 Net Income to Common: ~$486 million
• Q1 2026 Diluted EPS: ~$0.44 (up ~33% YoY)
• Net Interest Income (Q1 2026): ~$1.23 billion, NIM ~2.87%
• CET1 Ratio (Q1 2026): ~11.4%
• Dividend: ~$0.82/yr, yield ~3.7%, paid quarterly
• Market Capitalization: ~$25 billion (mid-2026)

KeyCorp trades as a mid-cap regional bank, with a market value near $25 billion on roughly 1.08 billion shares and a dividend yield around 3.7%. Earnings have been recovering sharply off a weak 2024, so year-over-year growth rates look large partly because of the low base. As with all banks, valuation multiples like price-to-book and price-to-earnings are best read against peer regional banks and the direction of interest rates and credit costs.

Other names that sit close to KEY: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get KEY exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so KEY sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where KEY fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

KeyCorp is a mid-cap U.S. regional bank in the middle of an earnings recovery, with Scotiabank as a ~14.9% strategic shareholder, net interest income and fees growing double digits into 2026, and a dividend yield near 3.7%, while remaining an economically cyclical stock that moves with interest rates, loan credit quality, and the broader economy.

Whether KEY is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is KEY a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the KEY stock forecast.

For income investors, whether KEY pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does KEY pay a dividend? And to weigh KEY against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: KEY vs SGHC and KEY vs FITB.