Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Shares Up 2.4% – Should You Buy?

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) rose 2.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $13.86 and last traded at $13.7950. Approximately 84,469,624 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 40% from the average daily volume of 60,310,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ford Motor from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ford Motor from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ford Motor from $11.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ford Motor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.18.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.17. The stock has a market cap of $54.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $50.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ford Motor Company will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors 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 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Ford Motor’s payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at $405,328,000. DLD Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the third quarter valued at approximately $299,000,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 712.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 19,572,437 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $212,361,000 after acquiring an additional 17,164,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,784,031 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,122,434,000 after buying an additional 15,748,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 32.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,342,420 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $318,365,000 after buying an additional 7,238,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

About Ford Motor

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.