Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New Investment in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 55,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $860,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FHN. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in First Horizon in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 54.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 28,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 58,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $916,000 after buying an additional 19,157 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 29,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in First Horizon by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.46.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE:FHN traded down $0.59 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $20.11. 13,310,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,556,347. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. First Horizon Co. has a twelve month low of $12.95 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.38 and a 200 day moving average of $16.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon's payout ratio is currently 43.48%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

First Horizon 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.