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

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01, RTT News reports. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $809.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $14.60. 1,481,835 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,103,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.34. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $18.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is 41.96%.

First Horizon declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,946,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $806,359,000 after acquiring an additional 171,222 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,689,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,075 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 10,162,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262,500 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,849,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,381,000 after acquiring an additional 704,662 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,740,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,256,000 after acquiring an additional 145,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on FHN shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised First Horizon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on First Horizon in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.