First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on FHN. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on First Horizon from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Horizon from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded First Horizon from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $16.15.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of FHN opened at $14.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.94. First Horizon has a 52 week low of $8.99 and a 52 week high of $18.99.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.96%.

First Horizon announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,946,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,359,000 after acquiring an additional 171,222 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 5.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,689,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,075 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 10,162,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,500 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,641,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,526,000 after acquiring an additional 883,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,898,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,007,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

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.