NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against KeyCorp (“Key” or the “Company”) (NYSE: KEY) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, and docketed under 23-cv-01520, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Key securities between February 27, 2020 and June 9, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Key securities during the Class Period, you have until October 3, 2023 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Key operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association, which provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the U.S. One of the Company’s principal sources of revenue is net interest income (“NII”), which is calculated as the difference between interest income received on earning assets (such as loans and securities) and loan-related fee income, and interest expense paid on deposits and borrowings.
Key has repeatedly downplayed concerns regarding its liquidity while touting the effectiveness of its long-term liquidity strategy. For example, the Company has repeatedly assured investors that its strong core deposit base, in conjunction other funds, supports the Company’s liquidity risk management strategy, and that the Company’s liquid asset portfolio, inter alia, exceeds the estimated amount needed to manage through an adverse liquidity event.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Key downplayed concerns with its liquidity while overstating the effectiveness of its long-term liquidity strategy; (ii) Key overstated its projected NII for the second quarter (“Q2”) and full year (“FY”) of 2023, as well as related positive NII drivers, while downplaying negative NII drivers; (iii) as a result, Key was likely to negatively revise its previously issued NII guidance; (iv) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Key’s business, financial results, and reputation; and (v) as a result, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.
On March 6, 2023, Key filed its presentation slides for the 2023 RBC Capital Markets Financial Institutions Conference as an exhibit to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, wherein the Company disclosed that it had downwardly revised its FY 2023 guidance for NII, stating that it expects FY 2023 NII to rise by 1% to 4% (assuming a cumulative beta in the mid- to high 30s) compared to FY 2022, representing a significant reduction from the Company’s prior guidance that FY 2023 NII would rise 6% to 9% compared to FY 2022. The Company attributed this negatively revised guidance to “Deposit Beta and Funding Costs”, explaining that “[m]arginal funding costs are increasing with rising market interest rates, and are expected to weigh on [NII.]”
On this news, Key’s stock price fell $0.60 per share, or 3.31%, to close at $17.55 per share on March 7, 2023.
On March 13, 2023, following the collapse of Silvergate Bank on March 8, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, 2023, and Signature Bank on March 12, 2023, investors grew increasingly concerned about Key’s own liquidity. That same day, Odeon Capital Group LLC downgraded the Company’s stock to hold from buy and BofA Global Research cut its price target on the Company’s stock to $17 from $20.
On this news, Key’s stock price fell $6.59 per share, or 40.69%, to close at $11.38 per share on March 13, 2023.
Then, on June 12, 2023, at the Morgan Stanley US Financials, Payments, & CRE Conference, Key’s Chief Financial Officer, Defendant Clark H. I. Khayat, disclosed that the Company anticipated Q2 2023 NII to be softer than earlier expected, “based on funding mix and deposit cost pressures.” At the same conference, Key’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Defendant Christopher M. Gorman, disclosed that clients are demanding higher interest rates on their deposits, and that banks of Key’s size are likely facing higher capital and liquidity requirements by regulators.
On this news, Key’s stock price fell $0.46 per share, or 4.31%, to close at $10.22 per share on June 12, 2023.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
