First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.15.

A number of analysts have commented on FHN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised First Horizon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays assumed coverage on First Horizon in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $14.63 on Monday. First Horizon has a 1-year low of $8.99 and a 1-year high of $18.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.96%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Horizon by 6,217.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,806,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,682,480 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in First Horizon during the fourth quarter worth $86,487,000. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its stake in First Horizon by 137.9% in the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 8,900,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,078,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158,750 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 807.7% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,487,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,469,000 after purchasing an additional 4,882,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in First Horizon during the fourth quarter worth about $52,721,000. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.