The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Stock Price

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $18.50 to $23.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FHN. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their target price on First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.71.

First Horizon Stock Performance

First Horizon stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,134,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,607,304. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.43 and a 200-day moving average of $16.31. First Horizon has a 52 week low of $11.87 and a 52 week high of $21.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.86.

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

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders 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 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.48%.

First Horizon announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In other news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in First Horizon by 13.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,389,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $510,782,000 after buying an additional 3,870,946 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 18.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $410,789,000 after acquiring an additional 4,116,486 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Horizon by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,515,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,647,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470,346 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in First Horizon by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 14,370,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $226,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558,129 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in First Horizon by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 14,025,838 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $221,187,000 after purchasing an additional 692,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company's stock.

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.