Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on First Horizon (NYSE:FHN)

Key Points

• Call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 20,052 First Horizon call options, 207% above the typical daily volume of 6,523.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: The stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $27.31 average price target, despite recent upgrades from Raymond James and Truist and a downgrade from Wall Street Zen.
• Financial performance and shareholder returns remain solid: First Horizon beat quarterly earnings expectations with $0.54 EPS and declared a $0.17 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.9% yield.

First Horizon Corporation (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 20,052 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 207% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,523 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FHN shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Horizon from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $28.50 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Horizon from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon

In other news, EVP Elizabeth Ardoin sold 18,313 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total transaction of $455,078.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 340,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,458,144.80. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FHN. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 138,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of First Horizon by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 14,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in First Horizon by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 40,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC increased its position in First Horizon by 4.0% in the first quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 18,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Horizon by 56.2% during the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company's stock.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of FHN stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $23.14. 1,181,710 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,305,641. The company has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.60. First Horizon has a 12-month low of $19.80 and a 12-month high of $26.56. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $887.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $878.42 million. First Horizon had a net margin of 21.12% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Horizon will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. First Horizon's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.54%.

First Horizon Company Profile

First Horizon Corporation NYSE: FHN is a financial services company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Through its principal subsidiary, First Horizon Bank, the company provides banking, lending and wealth management services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

Its consumer banking activities include checking and savings accounts, residential mortgages, personal loans, credit products and digital banking services. First Horizon also serves commercial customers with business deposits, commercial and industrial loans, real estate financing, treasury management and other specialized banking solutions.

The company offers investment, trust and advisory services through its wealth management operations and provides capital markets services, including investment banking, securities underwriting, fixed-income products and institutional sales and trading.

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