Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. Piper Sandler now has a $16.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $11.00. Ford Motor traded as high as $14.40 and last traded at $14.2290, with a volume of 30437603 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.74.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on F. Wall Street Zen raised Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ford Motor in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.54.

Institutional Trading of Ford Motor

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in F. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ford Motor by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 467,617,755 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $5,592,708,000 after purchasing an additional 5,371,758 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,172,134 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,575,118,000 after acquiring an additional 5,118,228 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ford Motor by 17.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,784,031 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,122,434,000 after acquiring an additional 15,748,694 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ford Motor in the second quarter worth $405,328,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Ford Motor by 81.1% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 35,438,722 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $423,847,000 after purchasing an additional 15,866,285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

Ford Motor Stock Up 4.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.20. The stock has a market cap of $56.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.62.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.07. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 2.48%.The company had revenue of $50.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. Ford Motor’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ford Motor Company will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Ford Motor Company Profile

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan. Founded by Henry Ford in 1903, the company became an early pioneer of mass-production techniques with the Model T and the adoption of the moving assembly line. Today, Ford designs, manufactures, markets and services a broad range of vehicles and mobility solutions under the Ford and Lincoln brands, spanning passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and commercial vehicles.

Ford’s business activities extend beyond vehicle production to include parts and aftermarket services, fleet and commercial sales, and automotive financing through Ford Motor Credit Company.