First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $819.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 17.80%. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FHN traded up $0.26 on Wednesday, hitting $14.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,738,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,188,404. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. First Horizon has a 52-week low of $8.99 and a 52-week high of $18.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.51 and a 200 day moving average of $13.33. The company has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FHN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James upgraded First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First Horizon from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com downgraded First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised First Horizon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $15.50 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in First Horizon by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 292,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,138,000 after buying an additional 20,267 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 152.2% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 57,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 34,904 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 246,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after buying an additional 19,827 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC boosted its position in First Horizon by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 27,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 9,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Horizon during the fourth quarter valued at $6,023,000. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.