Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 315,590 Shares of First Horizon Corporation $FHN

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN) by 1,145.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 343,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 315,590 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $7,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FHN. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in First Horizon in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in First Horizon by 873.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 156.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in First Horizon by 122.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 155,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.31, for a total transaction of $3,306,225.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 307,432 shares in the company, valued at $6,551,375.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jeff L. Fleming sold 7,619 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.74, for a total value of $165,637.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 128,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,329.24. The trade was a 5.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FHN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on First Horizon in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.58.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of FHN stock opened at $24.40 on Friday. First Horizon Corporation has a 12 month low of $15.19 and a 12 month high of $25.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.60. The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released 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 net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The business had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Horizon Corporation will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 27th that permits the company to repurchase $1.20 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from First Horizon’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.91%.

First Horizon 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.