Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on First Horizon (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 2,171 call options on the company. This is an increase of 93% compared to the average volume of 1,127 call options.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $16.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.88. First Horizon has a one year low of $10.16 and a one year high of $17.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.73 and its 200-day moving average is $15.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.01). First Horizon had a net margin of 14.03% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts predict that First Horizon will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is presently 41.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Horizon in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in First Horizon during the first quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in First Horizon during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in First Horizon by 306.2% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush cut First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James downgraded shares of First Horizon from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.38.

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.