HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 4,465 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 104,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,465 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $1,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in First Horizon by 6.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 112,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 6,656 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Horizon by 57.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 12,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 4,534 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Horizon in the second quarter worth about $281,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Horizon during the second quarter worth about $338,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in First Horizon by 48.4% during the second quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 85,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 27,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Horizon news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FHN shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price target on First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.69.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of FHN stock opened at $20.19 on Monday. First Horizon Co. has a 1 year low of $12.95 and a 1 year high of $21.72. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $18.88 and its 200-day moving average is $16.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 43.48%.

First Horizon 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.