Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Stock

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) had its target price increased by Barclays from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FHN. Wedbush downgraded First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut First Horizon from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Horizon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.38.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of FHN traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.69. 7,645,749 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,276,455. First Horizon has a twelve month low of $10.96 and a twelve month high of $20.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.86.

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

First Horizon declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Horizon

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 transaction of $1,996,255.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,278,937.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 420,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,534,000 after purchasing an additional 194,541 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the third quarter worth about $449,000. Factorial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 177,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 46,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 16,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 133.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 161,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 92,106 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.