Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 6,378 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,732,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,378 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $34,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in First Horizon by 365.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 160.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in First Horizon during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in First Horizon by 335.6% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FHN. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on First Horizon from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price objective on First Horizon in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.04.

First Horizon Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FHN opened at $22.06 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.70 and its 200 day moving average is $18.18. The company has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon Co. has a 12-month low of $13.45 and a 12-month high of $22.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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