Azora Capital LP Acquires 2,377,300 Shares of First Horizon Corporation $FHN

Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN) by 1,020.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,610,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,377,300 shares during the period. First Horizon accounts for approximately 2.5% of Azora Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Azora Capital LP owned about 0.51% of First Horizon worth $55,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in First Horizon in the second quarter valued at about $8,117,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 889,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,864,000 after acquiring an additional 75,914 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 49.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 225,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,780,000 after acquiring an additional 74,415 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 152,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after acquiring an additional 26,323 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in First Horizon by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 54,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,507 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $22.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.76 and its 200-day moving average is $21.66. First Horizon Corporation has a one year low of $15.19 and a one year high of $23.70.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $893.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $848.08 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 10.93% and a net margin of 18.08%.First Horizon’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that First Horizon Corporation will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, October 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FHN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Horizon and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on First Horizon in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on First Horizon from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In other news, CAO Jeff L. Fleming sold 7,619 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.74, for a total transaction of $165,637.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 128,626 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,329.24. This represents a 5.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 155,149 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.31, for a total value of $3,306,225.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 307,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,551,375.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.