Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) Stock

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.47% from the stock’s current price.

FHN has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.69.

First Horizon Price Performance

FHN stock opened at $20.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. First Horizon has a 12-month low of $12.95 and a 12-month high of $21.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.74.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. First Horizon had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that First Horizon will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

First Horizon announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, October 29th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

In related news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total transaction of $1,996,255.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Horizon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in First Horizon by 552.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 273,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,502,000 after purchasing an additional 231,773 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 66,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 3rd quarter valued at $127,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 23,203 shares in the last quarter. 80.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.