First Horizon Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 6,071 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 213% compared to the average volume of 1,937 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Horizon news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $1,996,255.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,278,937.02. This trade represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 306.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in First Horizon during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Trading Up 0.9 %

FHN opened at $20.35 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.02. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $12.95 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Horizon will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.48%.

First Horizon Company 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.