First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on FHN. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of First Horizon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First Horizon from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James raised shares of First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.15.

First Horizon Trading Up 2.4 %

FHN traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.62. 5,108,321 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,154,283. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.96. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $18.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. First Horizon had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 23rd that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in First Horizon by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,946,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,359,000 after buying an additional 171,222 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,689,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,075 shares during the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 10,162,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262,500 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,641,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,526,000 after purchasing an additional 883,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,898,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,600 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.