Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Trading Down 1.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) shares fell 1.9% on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $11.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Ford Motor traded as low as $9.65 and last traded at $9.71. 41,542,250 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 63,349,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.90.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $19.00 to $15.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut Ford Motor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ford Motor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.37.

Institutional Trading of Ford Motor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 402,083,883 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,980,630,000 after buying an additional 57,182,803 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter worth $387,282,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 88.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 22,512,285 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $222,872,000 after buying an additional 10,535,335 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ford Motor by 2,905.1% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 7,989,463 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $79,096,000 after buying an additional 7,723,601 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 129,106,379 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,278,153,000 after purchasing an additional 6,497,321 shares in the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $38.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.59.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. Ford Motor had a net margin of 3.18% and a return on equity of 16.88%. Research analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. Ford Motor’s payout ratio is currently 41.10%.

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.