KBC Group NV Acquires 33,708 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) by 240.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,708 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in First Horizon were worth $741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Horizon by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,574,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,640,000 after purchasing an additional 627,730 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 13.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 28.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,515,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,647,000 after buying an additional 3,470,346 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 46.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 14,370,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $226,626,000 after buying an additional 4,558,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 5.2% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 14,025,838 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $221,187,000 after buying an additional 692,100 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Horizon has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.38.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FHN traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,349,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,630,202. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86. First Horizon Co. has a one year low of $11.87 and a one year high of $20.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.48%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Horizon news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 166,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % 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.