Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 85,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,988 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $1,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 948,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,724,000 after buying an additional 285,108 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Horizon by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,482,000 after acquiring an additional 100,359 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 128.4% during the third quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 52,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 29,581 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 465,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,229,000 after buying an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the third quarter valued at $2,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Up 3.5 %

FHN opened at $19.94 on Friday. First Horizon Co. has a 52 week low of $12.95 and a 52 week high of $21.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

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

First Horizon announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 43.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FHN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stephens upped their price objective on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Horizon presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.00.

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.