First Tennessee Bank’s parent company is getting the new year started in part by increasing its common stock dividend by 33 percent.

The board of First Horizon National Corp. has approved a quarterly cash dividend payment of 12 cents per share payable on April 2. The per-share quarterly cash dividend in 2017 was 9 cents, which means the increase raises the regular annual common dividend rate from 36 to 48 cents per share.

The board of directors has also approved payment of a quarterly cash dividend of $1,550 per share on the company’s Series A preferred stock. The dividend is payable on April 10.

In other action, the board approved a new $250 million common share purchase program that expires on Jan. 31, 2020.

Purchases will be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions and will be subject to market conditions, accumulation of excess equity, capital management, and legal and regulatory restrictions. The new program is not tied to any compensation plan, and replaces an older general share purchase program.

The board terminated the older program that was three years old had about $190 million remaining in available share purchase authority. It had been scheduled to expire on Jan. 31.

Following the news, Zacks Equity Research noted that First Horizon “depicts a stable earnings picture. In the past three to five years, the bank witnesses earnings per share growth of 38.6 percent. Also, the company’s earnings are projected to grow at the rate of 27.9 percent for the current year.”