First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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

FHN has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded First Horizon from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Horizon from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded First Horizon from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.15.

First Horizon Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:FHN opened at $14.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.94. First Horizon has a 12 month low of $8.99 and a 12 month high of $18.99.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.96%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in First Horizon by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in First Horizon by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 28,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in First Horizon by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in First Horizon by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 140,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,068,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in First Horizon by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.