First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Horizon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.23.

First Horizon Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of FHN traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,015,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,193,606. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.60 and its 200-day moving average is $19.39. First Horizon has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $22.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.86.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In other news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares in the company, valued at $39,330,980.53. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth $304,000. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in First Horizon in the fourth quarter valued at about $453,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,813,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of First Horizon by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 114,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 35,479 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 590.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 517,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,039,000 after acquiring an additional 442,686 shares during 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.