Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Lifted to Hold at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on F. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ford Motor from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued an outperform rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ford Motor from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ford Motor presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.79.

Ford Motor Trading Down 1.6 %

F opened at $11.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.62. Ford Motor has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.41.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $47.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.79 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 15.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ford Motor news, Director Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. sold 81,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.09, for a total transaction of $982,119.06. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,038,386.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its position in Ford Motor by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 155,177,214 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,891,610,000 after buying an additional 6,667,808 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 87,661,675 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,068,596,000 after acquiring an additional 269,887 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,152,154 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $721,065,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522,965 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the fourth quarter worth about $475,899,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ford Motor by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 27,314,520 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $333,014,000 after purchasing an additional 528,823 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.