Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Trading Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Ford Motor (NYSE:F)’s share price shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $10.06 and last traded at $10.02. 29,083,141 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 54,326,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $16.00 to $12.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Ford Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.83.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $39.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.20.

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

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of F. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ford Motor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor in the third quarter worth $34,000. 58.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.