Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 22,513 First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 22,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in First Horizon by 365.0% in the 3rd 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. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in shares of First Horizon by 306.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 160.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. The trade was a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 519,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,278,937.02. The trade was a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 220,954 shares of company stock valued at $4,519,333. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FHN shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.04.

First Horizon Stock Performance

First Horizon stock opened at $20.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon Co. has a 1-year low of $13.45 and a 1-year high of $21.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.52 and its 200 day moving average is $17.84.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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. Research analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

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

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

First Horizon 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.