KBC Group NV Has $3.36 Million Position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 249.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 166,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 119,237 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $3,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FHN. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in First Horizon by 365.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in First Horizon by 160.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 44.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in First Horizon during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in First Horizon by 335.6% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of FHN opened at $21.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon Co. has a 52 week low of $13.45 and a 52 week high of $22.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 15.38%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FHN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.04.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

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 value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 220,954 shares of company stock valued at $4,519,333 over the last three months. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.