South Dakota Investment Council Sells 60,900 Shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 757,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60,900 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $15,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $410,789,000 after buying an additional 4,116,486 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,346,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,194,000 after buying an additional 61,397 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of First Horizon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,242,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 169.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,886,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,301,000 after buying an additional 1,185,772 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 948,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,724,000 after buying an additional 285,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Price Performance

First Horizon stock opened at $20.85 on Friday. First Horizon Co. has a 12 month low of $13.72 and a 12 month high of $22.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.04 and its 200-day moving average is $18.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 15.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Horizon news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 109,980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.13, for a total transaction of $2,323,877.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,861,381 shares in the company, valued at $39,330,980.53. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FHN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.04.

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.