First Horizon Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 10,979 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 251% compared to the typical volume of 3,129 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 14,453,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,368 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Horizon by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,033,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,007,000 after purchasing an additional 426,951 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $153,942,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in First Horizon by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,336,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,531,000 after buying an additional 116,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in First Horizon by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,212,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,580,000 after buying an additional 491,464 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on FHN. UBS Group cut shares of First Horizon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on First Horizon from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on First Horizon from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.12.

First Horizon Stock Down 3.1%

First Horizon stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,556,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,359,759. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $19.80 and a fifty-two week high of $26.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.25.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. First Horizon had a return on equity of 11.65% and a net margin of 20.54%.The firm had revenue of $890.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First Horizon will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.00%.

About First Horizon

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.