Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FHN. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in First Horizon by 18.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,789,000 after buying an additional 4,116,486 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,515,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,647,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,346 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 14,370,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558,129 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP increased its stake in First Horizon by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 10,200,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Horizon by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,346,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,194,000 after purchasing an additional 61,397 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FHN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price target on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush downgraded shares of First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN opened at $20.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. First Horizon Co. has a twelve month low of $12.95 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The company has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.92.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 43.48%.

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

First Horizon 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.