Smith Group Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 90,000 First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 90,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,813,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 160.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in First Horizon during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in First Horizon by 335.6% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FHN. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of First Horizon in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total value of $2,323,877.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,330,980.53. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $10,278,937.02. This trade represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 220,954 shares of company stock valued at $4,519,333 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

First Horizon Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FHN traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $21.57. The company had a trading volume of 9,966,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,118,272. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.98. First Horizon Co. has a twelve month low of $13.45 and a twelve month high of $22.03.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 15.38%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

First Horizon announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.