Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Short Interest Down 15.8% in August

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) saw a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 87,160,000 shares, a decline of 15.8% from the August 15th total of 103,470,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 58,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Shares of F stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.84. The stock had a trading volume of 24,729,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,957,336. Ford Motor has a twelve month low of $9.49 and a twelve month high of $14.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.09.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.21). Ford Motor had a return on equity of 15.28% and a net margin of 2.13%. The business had revenue of $47.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is 61.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ford Motor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in F. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ford Motor during the fourth quarter valued at $475,899,000. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,152,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 buying an additional 7,793,944 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its holdings in Ford Motor by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 155,177,214 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,891,610,000 after buying an additional 6,667,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ford Motor by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,150,709 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $721,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,521,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

F has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ford Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI raised Ford Motor to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.95.

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.