Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN - Free Report) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,378,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 142,440 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.64% of First Horizon worth $52,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FHN. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in First Horizon by 46.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 2nd quarter worth about $66,779,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of First Horizon by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,236,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $410,789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,116,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Horizon by 28.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,470,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,242,000. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company's stock.

First Horizon Trading Up 1.1 %

FHN stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $20.16. The company had a trading volume of 5,490,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,595,822. 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.27 and a 200 day moving average of $16.93. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $821.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Horizon

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on FHN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush cut shares of First Horizon from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.00.

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.