First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $22.19 and last traded at $22.09, with a volume of 66278 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.04.

First Horizon Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.74 and a 200-day moving average of $18.25.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Research analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

First Horizon announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In related news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total value of $2,323,877.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares in the company, valued at $39,330,980.53. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in First Horizon by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 37,131,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,822,000 after purchasing an additional 7,715,191 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in First Horizon by 18.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,789,000 after acquiring an additional 4,116,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,346,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,194,000 after acquiring an additional 61,397 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $102,467,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 255.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,733,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,104,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683,746 shares during the last quarter. 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.