Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for First Horizon (NYSE:FHN)

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James raised shares of First Horizon from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $13.00 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised shares of First Horizon from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $15.50 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of First Horizon from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $16.00.

First Horizon Trading Down 3.4 %

First Horizon stock opened at $14.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.49 and a 200-day moving average of $13.23. First Horizon has a one year low of $8.99 and a one year high of $18.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.20 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 9.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Horizon will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 23rd that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of First Horizon by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 36,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 4,346 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $213,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Horizon by 55.5% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 756,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,647,000 after acquiring an additional 269,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First Horizon by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 38,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by 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.