First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.44 and last traded at $22.43, with a volume of 4412502 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FHN shares. Bank of America upped their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.04.

First Horizon Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.40.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $2,323,877.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,330,980.53. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 37,131,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,822,000 after acquiring an additional 7,715,191 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in First Horizon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,418,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $102,467,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,789,000 after buying an additional 4,116,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 160.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,524,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,270,000 after buying an additional 3,400,811 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

About First Horizon

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.