KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 240.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 33,708 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 365.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in First Horizon in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 approximately $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on FHN shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush lowered First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.38.

First Horizon Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of FHN opened at $20.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.86. First Horizon Co. has a 1 year low of $11.87 and a 1 year high of $20.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.14.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) 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. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 29th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%.

First Horizon Company 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.