First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on FHN. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James raised First Horizon from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $16.15.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of FHN stock opened at $15.80 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.76 and a 200 day moving average of $13.71. First Horizon has a 1 year low of $8.99 and a 1 year high of $15.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $819.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that First Horizon will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHN. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in First Horizon by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 7.5% in the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Horizon by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 106,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in First Horizon by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 11,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Horizon by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 265,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

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.