Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases 3,200 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its holdings in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Horizon by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,775,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $625,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276,977 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in First Horizon by 16.0% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 994,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,960,000 after buying an additional 137,525 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in First Horizon during the third quarter worth about $1,189,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in First Horizon by 2.0% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 312,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,440,000 after acquiring an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in First Horizon by 721.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 110,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after acquiring an additional 97,144 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Horizon Stock Performance

First Horizon stock opened at $15.40 on Friday. First Horizon Co. has a 1-year low of $8.99 and a 1-year high of $18.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.00.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.20 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 9.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 23rd that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FHN. StockNews.com cut shares of First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group raised First Horizon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $15.50 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James raised First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup began coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Friday, December 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.92.

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.