William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 1,456,820 Shares of First Horizon Corporation $FHN

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN) by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,219,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,456,820 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.03% of First Horizon worth $118,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 5.0% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 13,458,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,319,000 after purchasing an additional 646,060 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,010,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,632,000 after buying an additional 255,429 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 45.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,738,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,855,000 after buying an additional 2,091,865 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,399,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 1,020.5% in the second quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,610,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,337,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377,300 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FHN opened at $23.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. First Horizon Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $15.19 and a fifty-two week high of $26.56. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.59 and a 200-day moving average of $23.05.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.06. First Horizon had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 19.67%.The business had revenue of $888.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Horizon Corporation will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from First Horizon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is currently 31.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FHN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Horizon from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut First Horizon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.66.

Insider Activity

In other First Horizon news, EVP Anthony J. Restel sold 5,719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.35, for a total value of $139,257.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 619,132 shares in the company, valued at $15,075,864.20. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Company Profile

First Horizon Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is a diversified financial services company providing an array of retail, commercial and wealth management solutions. As the largest bank-based financial services firm in Tennessee, First Horizon operates through a network of branches and digital platforms across the Southeastern United States, offering personal and business banking, mortgage origination and servicing, payment solutions and treasury management services.

Tracing its origins to the First National Bank of Memphis established in 1864, First Horizon has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to serve customers in Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.