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

Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.04.

FHN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Horizon news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $2,323,877.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares in the company, valued at $39,330,980.53. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in First Horizon by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 132.4% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 33,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 19,278 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Harmony Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 94,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 13,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $130,000. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN opened at $20.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.67. First Horizon has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $22.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Horizon will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

First Horizon declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.