Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 122,150,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the May 31st total of 129,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 47,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Ford Motor

In related news, Director Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. sold 81,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.09, for a total value of $982,119.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 168,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,038,386.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the fourth quarter worth $475,899,000. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Ford Motor in the fourth quarter valued at about $149,152,000. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in Ford Motor by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 155,177,214 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,891,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,667,808 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ford Motor by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,152,154 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $721,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522,965 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 1,084.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,696,966 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $32,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469,344 shares in the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ford Motor from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Ford Motor in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ford Motor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ford Motor in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.89.

Ford Motor Price Performance

Ford Motor stock opened at $12.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ford Motor has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $15.42. The company has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.62.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 2.21%. The firm had revenue of $42.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

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.