Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 18,003 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 967,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,003 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.17% of First Horizon worth $13,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Terril Brothers Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in First Horizon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 194.7% in the 4th quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 2,209,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460,028 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 299,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 14,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FHN opened at $15.80 on Friday. First Horizon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $15.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.94. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.69.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $819.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.51 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

FHN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded First Horizon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $15.50 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Horizon currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.15.

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.