Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 336,720 Shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ford Motor (NYSE:F) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,464,980 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 336,720 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ford Motor were worth $15,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ford Motor in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 58.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ford Motor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Ford Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.83.

Ford Motor Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE F opened at $9.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $10.77 and its 200 day moving average is $11.24. Ford Motor has a 52 week low of $9.49 and a 52 week high of $14.85.

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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Ford Motor’s payout ratio is 68.18%.

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.