Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Downgraded to “Market Perform” Rating by Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $11.00 price objective on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ford Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI raised Ford Motor to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ford Motor from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.02.

Ford Motor Price Performance

F stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $10.93. The company had a trading volume of 14,184,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,764,031. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The company has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.62. Ford Motor has a fifty-two week low of $9.49 and a fifty-two week high of $14.85.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 16.16% and a net margin of 1.93%. The firm had revenue of $46.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.49%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 14,373.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,885,389 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $93,830,000 after purchasing an additional 8,824,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,190,972 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $453,732,000 after purchasing an additional 7,793,944 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 456.9% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,000,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281,800 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 103.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,908,726 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $60,844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,497,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 1,215.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,693,585 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $28,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.