Short Interest in Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Grows By 8.9%

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 94,960,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the August 31st total of 87,160,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 59,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ford Motor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in F. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,150,709 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $721,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,521,520 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ford Motor by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,190,972 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $453,732,000 after purchasing an additional 7,793,944 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Ford Motor by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 31,823,353 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $399,066,000 after purchasing an additional 318,715 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Ford Motor by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 20,115,487 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $252,248,000 after purchasing an additional 312,496 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Ford Motor by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 12,290,204 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $163,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,640 shares during the period. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ford Motor Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE F traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.76. 63,874,216 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,050,430. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Ford Motor has a 52 week low of $9.49 and a 52 week high of $14.85. The stock has a market cap of $42.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.62.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $47.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.79 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.58%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on F shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ford Motor in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ford Motor from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Ford Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ford Motor from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ford Motor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.72.

Ford Motor Company Profile

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.