Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Stock Price Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Ford Motor (NYSE:F)’s stock price rose 2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.79 and last traded at $9.72. Approximately 30,910,404 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 90,672,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

F has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays downgraded shares of Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $11.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $19.00 to $15.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.68.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The company has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a PE ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.71 and its 200-day moving average is $10.33.

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

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ford Motor

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in F. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 402,083,883 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,980,630,000 after buying an additional 57,182,803 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 129,106,379 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,278,153,000 after buying an additional 6,497,321 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ford Motor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 84,078,284 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $830,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,127 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ford Motor by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 46,508,882 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $460,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ford Motor in the fourth quarter worth $387,282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

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.