Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 142,440 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,378,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 142,440 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.64% of First Horizon worth $52,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FHN. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 552.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 273,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,502,000 after purchasing an additional 231,773 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in First Horizon during the 3rd quarter worth about $127,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 227.0% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 23,203 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on FHN. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush cut shares of First Horizon from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price target on First Horizon in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FHN traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.92. 571,509 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,574,829. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. First Horizon Co. has a 52 week low of $12.95 and a 52 week high of $21.72.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.48%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,996,255.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.