Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $453,000 in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 22,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 4,116,486 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,558,129 shares during the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 10,200,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $160,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 61,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Horizon by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,015,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $76,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402,436 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FHN. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.04.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

In other First Horizon news, 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 value of $199,200.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $2,323,877.40. Following 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 trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 220,954 shares of company stock worth $4,519,333. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

First Horizon Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:FHN traded up $0.14 on Friday, reaching $21.05. 6,265,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,970,675. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon Co. has a 52-week low of $13.45 and a 52-week high of $21.82. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $20.53 and a 200-day moving average of $17.88.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. First Horizon's payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

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

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.