Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on First Horizon (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 51,690 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 729% compared to the average daily volume of 6,233 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Horizon from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on First Horizon from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Fundamental Research set a $28.50 price target on First Horizon in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Horizon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Horizon news, EVP Elizabeth A. Ardoin sold 18,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total value of $455,078.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 340,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,458,144.80. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in First Horizon during the second quarter worth $1,505,239,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter valued at approximately $747,445,000. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of First Horizon by 25.5% in the first quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 14,453,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,368 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 2,273.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,208,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,311,000 after purchasing an additional 13,610,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in First Horizon by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,033,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,007,000 after buying an additional 426,951 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.05. The company had a trading volume of 4,868,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,381,573. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.45 and a 200-day moving average of $24.44. The company has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. First Horizon has a 1-year low of $19.80 and a 1-year high of $26.56.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $887.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.42 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 21.12%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Horizon will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.54%.

First Horizon Company Profile

First Horizon Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is a diversified financial services company providing an array of retail, commercial and wealth management solutions. As the largest bank-based financial services firm in Tennessee, First Horizon operates through a network of branches and digital platforms across the Southeastern United States, offering personal and business banking, mortgage origination and servicing, payment solutions and treasury management services.

Tracing its origins to the First National Bank of Memphis established in 1864, First Horizon has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to serve customers in Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.