Ford Motor Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:F)

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 212,687 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 28% compared to the typical daily volume of 165,538 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

F has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Ford Motor from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $9.40 to $7.00 in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $19.00 to $15.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Ford Motor to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ford Motor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ford Motor by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,464,980 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $15,998,000 after purchasing an additional 336,720 shares during the period. NCP Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ford Motor by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 74,520 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 28,528 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 3.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,394,681 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $46,408,000 after buying an additional 160,409 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 196,100 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 91,300 shares during the period. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter worth about $10,853,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

Ford Motor Trading Up 8.9 %

Shares of F opened at $9.47 on Thursday. Ford Motor has a 12-month low of $8.44 and a 12-month high of $14.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

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

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.10%.

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.