Ieq Capital LLC Boosts Stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 601.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 154,433 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $3,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FHN. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 18.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,789,000 after buying an additional 4,116,486 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in First Horizon during the third quarter worth $39,242,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 169.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,886,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,301,000 after buying an additional 1,185,772 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in First Horizon during the third quarter worth $7,797,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 590.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 517,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,039,000 after purchasing an additional 442,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of FHN opened at $20.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.67. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.72 and a fifty-two week high of $22.44.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $2,323,877.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,330,980.53. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on FHN shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James increased their price objective on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on First Horizon from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.04.

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.