Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) by 1,588.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,494,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,405,873 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of First Horizon worth $21,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,775,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $625,661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,977 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in 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 valued at $10,960,000 after purchasing an additional 137,525 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in First Horizon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,019,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter valued at $2,222,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of First Horizon in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,189,000. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Horizon Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:FHN opened at $14.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.94. First Horizon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $18.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $809.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. First Horizon’s payout ratio is currently 41.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FHN shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Raymond James upgraded First Horizon from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on First Horizon from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Horizon from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of First Horizon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Horizon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.15.

About First Horizon

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.