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

Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.08.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FHN. Barclays upped their target price on First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush cut First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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.

First Horizon Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE FHN opened at $20.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.86. First Horizon has a 12 month low of $12.95 and a 12 month 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.46.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Horizon will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is 43.48%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in First Horizon during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in First Horizon by 306.2% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Company Profile

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.