Ford Motor Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:F)

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 212,687 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 28% compared to the average volume of 165,538 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

F has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ford Motor from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $12.00 to $9.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Ford Motor in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ford Motor from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 3,600 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,693 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,728 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in Ford Motor by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 63,323 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,429 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ford Motor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE F opened at $9.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a PE ratio of 6.25, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.41. Ford Motor has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $14.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.18.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 predict that Ford Motor will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.