Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 22,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of First Horizon by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 948,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,724,000 after buying an additional 285,108 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Horizon by 13.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,482,000 after acquiring an additional 100,359 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in First Horizon by 128.4% in the third quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 52,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 29,581 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,669,000. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on FHN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on First Horizon from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In related news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $1,996,255.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 220,954 shares of company stock worth $4,519,333 in the last three months. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Horizon Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $20.90 on Friday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $13.45 and a twelve month high of $21.82. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.52 and its 200 day moving average is $17.84.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 15.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

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