First Horizon Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 6,071 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 213% compared to the average daily volume of 1,937 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In other news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in First Horizon by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 948,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,724,000 after acquiring an additional 285,108 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,482,000 after purchasing an additional 100,359 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its position in First Horizon by 128.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 52,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 29,581 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its stake in First Horizon by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 465,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,229,000 after purchasing an additional 42,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in First Horizon in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FHN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.00.

First Horizon Stock Performance

Shares of First Horizon stock traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $20.22. The stock had a trading volume of 861,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,572,539. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. First Horizon has a twelve month low of $12.95 and a twelve month high of $21.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.96.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last announced its 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 net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.48%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.