Bailard Inc. Acquires Shares of 38,600 First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 38,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Horizon by 4.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,775,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $625,661,000 after buying an additional 2,276,977 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Horizon by 16.0% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 994,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,960,000 after purchasing an additional 137,525 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the fourth quarter worth $1,019,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the fourth quarter worth $2,222,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the third quarter worth $1,189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Stock Performance

NYSE:FHN opened at $14.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.54. First Horizon Co. has a 52-week low of $8.99 and a 52-week high of $17.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. First Horizon had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $819.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. First Horizon’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that First Horizon Co. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

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

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. First Horizon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FHN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded First Horizon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on First Horizon from $16.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on First Horizon from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.