First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Short Interest Up 9.2% in October

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,110,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the October 15th total of 6,510,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $1,996,255.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FHN. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 57.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 426,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,573,000 after acquiring an additional 155,982 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,482,000 after acquiring an additional 100,359 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 1st quarter worth $2,366,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 286.4% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 65,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 48,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of First Horizon by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 465,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,229,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Performance

First Horizon stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $20.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,435,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,640,071. First Horizon has a 1-year low of $11.87 and a 1-year high of $20.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.11. The company has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Horizon will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FHN. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.38.

About First Horizon

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.