Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Cut to “Underperform” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $9.00 price objective on the auto manufacturer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $12.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on F. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ford Motor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ford Motor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.83.

Ford Motor Price Performance

Shares of Ford Motor stock opened at $9.99 on Monday. Ford Motor has a fifty-two week low of $9.49 and a fifty-two week high of $14.85. The company has a market cap of $39.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $46.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.13 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 16.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Ford Motor’s payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ford Motor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ford Motor in the third quarter worth $33,000. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.