First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05, RTT News reports. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%.

First Horizon Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $21.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon has a 1 year low of $12.95 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.61.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FHN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group started coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.35.

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.