First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Reaches New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• First Horizon Corporation reached a new 12-month high, trading at $22.85, and has seen significant trading volume of nearly 7.77 million shares.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for First Horizon, with Bank of America's target rising from $26.00 to $27.00, indicating a strong consensus of a "Moderate Buy."
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, yielding 2.63%, and has a relatively low dividend payout ratio of 38.71%.
• Insider selling activity has been noted, with COO Tammy Locascio and EVP David T. Popwell selling shares, which may raise questions about future stock performance.

First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $22.83 and last traded at $22.85, with a volume of 7768941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FHN. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of First Horizon from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of First Horizon from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.28.

First Horizon Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company's fifty day moving average is $20.87 and its 200-day moving average is $20.09. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.61.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.04. First Horizon had a net margin of 17.10% and a return on equity of 10.55%. The business had revenue of $830.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $832.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that First Horizon Corporation will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

In other First Horizon news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 38,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.20, for a total value of $843,822.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 550,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,210,244.20. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Tammy Locascio sold 10,285 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.25, for a total transaction of $228,841.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 342,051 shares in the company, valued at $7,610,634.75. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 2nd quarter worth $215,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter valued at about $3,831,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the second quarter valued at about $79,776,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 70.0% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 7,447 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 19.4% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the company's stock.

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.