MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 10,804 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 277,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,804 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $4,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FHN. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in First Horizon during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 306.2% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on First Horizon from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.08.

First Horizon Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of FHN stock opened at $21.13 on Monday. First Horizon Co. has a 52-week low of $12.40 and a 52-week high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $17.85 and its 200-day moving average is $16.45.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is 43.48%.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, October 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 16.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of First Horizon 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 sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,323,452.80. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

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.