First Horizon Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:FHN)

First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 4,276 call options on the company. This is an increase of 468% compared to the average volume of 753 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FHN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded First Horizon from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on First Horizon from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James reduced their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on First Horizon from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 160.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in First Horizon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Horizon by 115.3% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Horizon in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 80.28% of the company’s stock.

First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FHN opened at $19.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.69. First Horizon has a fifty-two week low of $14.09 and a fifty-two week high of $22.44.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.38% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $823.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $825.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that First Horizon will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. First Horizon’s payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

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.