Short Interest in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Increases By 9.2%

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the sale, 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. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Horizon by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,346,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $145,194,000 after purchasing an additional 61,397 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in First Horizon by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 169.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,886,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185,772 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 365.7% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in First Horizon by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 223,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 5,394 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FHN traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.36. 9,445,145 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,019,308. First Horizon has a 52-week low of $11.87 and a 52-week 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 of $16.85 and a 200-day moving average of $16.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86.

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

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

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. First Horizon's payout ratio is 43.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FHN. Barclays lifted their target price on First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James lifted their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised First Horizon from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.