Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 4.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,378,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 142,440 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in First Horizon were worth $52,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in First Horizon by 552.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 273,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,502,000 after purchasing an additional 231,773 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in First Horizon by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 3,722 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in First Horizon in the third quarter valued at $127,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Horizon by 16.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in First Horizon by 227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 23,203 shares during the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value 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. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Up 3.5 %

First Horizon stock opened at $19.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.92. First Horizon Co. has a twelve month low of $12.95 and a twelve month high of $21.72.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.63 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FHN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on First Horizon from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

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.