Seeking Alpha: First Horizon In Good Shape, But Looking At A Hard Slog

I thought Tennessee's First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) was more or less fairly valued a year ago, and I haven't missed out on much, as the shares of this regional bank are pretty much where they were a year ago. Of course, there's been movement in between, as bullishness on the prospect of rate hikes and loan growth saw these shares exceed $16 back in the summer before getting caught in the general downdraft.

I'm a little torn on First Horizon. On one hand, I applaud the management for being quite transparent with its plans and goals, but I don't think it's necessarily going to be able to reach all of those goals. Likewise, while I don't see much undervaluation in the shares on an "as is" basis, the stock should definitely do better if rates start heading up and/or if management deploys more of that surplus capital toward M&A. With all of that in mind, I'd call this a "high-quality hold"; I don't see enough undervaluation to buy these shares when BB&T (NYSE:BBT) and Regions (NYSE:RF) both look more undervalued, but there are definitely worse places for a bank stock investor to hang out while waiting for better conditions.

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First Horizon In Good Shape, But Looking At A Hard Slog