First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $819.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 9.94%. First Horizon's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE FHN traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,737,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,200,951. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.34. First Horizon has a 12 month low of $8.99 and a 12 month high of $18.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FHN shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Horizon from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays began coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $133,345,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in First Horizon by 15.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,368,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,736,000 after buying an additional 3,173,357 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in First Horizon by 62.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,302,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,070,000 after buying an additional 1,657,018 shares in the last quarter. Davide Leone & Partners Investment Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in First Horizon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,744,000. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its position in First Horizon by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 10,162,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $143,901,000 after buying an additional 1,262,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company's stock.

First Horizon announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.