First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.38.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FHN shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on First Horizon in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush downgraded First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FHN. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in First Horizon by 57.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 426,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,573,000 after acquiring an additional 155,982 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,482,000 after purchasing an additional 100,359 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 1st quarter valued at $2,366,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Horizon by 286.4% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 65,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 48,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in First Horizon by 10.1% during the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 465,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,229,000 after buying an additional 42,793 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Trading Up 0.1 %

FHN opened at $20.16 on Friday. First Horizon has a 52 week low of $11.87 and a 52 week high of $20.53. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%.

About First Horizon

First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments.