First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Shares Sold by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,022 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHN. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in First Horizon by 15.7% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 42,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 5,763 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 3rd quarter valued at about $279,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Horizon in the 3rd quarter worth about $182,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in First Horizon during the third quarter worth approximately $860,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in First Horizon by 18.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,116,486 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN opened at $19.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. First Horizon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.95 and a fifty-two week high of $21.72.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly 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. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at First Horizon

In other First Horizon news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at $10,278,937.02. This trade represents a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FHN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Horizon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.