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

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $819.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of FHN stock opened at $14.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.94. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $18.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.96.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.96%.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FHN. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 115.5% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FHN has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded First Horizon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on First Horizon in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on First Horizon from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.15.

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.