Short Interest in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) Rises By 20.9%

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,950,000 shares, a growth of 20.9% from the September 15th total of 4,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on First Horizon from $18.50 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FHN. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 46.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 14,370,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558,129 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 49.8% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 13,333,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,340,000 after buying an additional 4,434,929 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Horizon during the second quarter valued at $66,779,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in First Horizon by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,389,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $510,782,000 after purchasing an additional 3,870,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew 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 worth $244,647,000 after buying an additional 3,470,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Performance

First Horizon stock traded up $0.66 on Wednesday, hitting $17.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,540,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,534,034. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.53. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.88. First Horizon has a one year low of $10.16 and a one year high of $17.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). First Horizon had a net margin of 14.03% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Horizon will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.96%.

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.