Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Short Interest Update

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 161,210,000 shares, a growth of 37.1% from the January 31st total of 117,580,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 67,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Ford Motor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,215,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ford Motor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $169,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

F has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered shares of Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $13.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ford Motor from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Ford Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.89.

Ford Motor Price Performance

F stock opened at $9.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.76 and its 200 day moving average is $10.41. Ford Motor has a 52 week low of $9.10 and a 52 week high of $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 3.18%. Research analysts predict that Ford Motor will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. Ford Motor’s payout ratio is currently 41.10%.

About Ford Motor

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.