First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Short Interest Up 9.4% in October

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,510,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the September 30th total of 5,950,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

First Horizon Stock Up 1.6 %

FHN stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,879,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,567,036. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. First Horizon has a 52-week low of $10.55 and a 52-week high of $17.93. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.71.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

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

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. First Horizon's payout ratio is currently 41.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FHN. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% in the third 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. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in First Horizon during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in First Horizon by 306.2% in the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in First Horizon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FHN. Wedbush downgraded First Horizon from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Six equities research 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.92.

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.