Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Short Interest Down 5.6% in June

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 122,150,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the May 31st total of 129,450,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 47,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. sold 81,234 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 168,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,038,386.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Ford Motor by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 342,150 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $4,171,000 after purchasing an additional 44,581 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Ford Motor by 11.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 421,118 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,230,000 after acquiring an additional 44,805 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Ford Motor in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Ford Motor by 21.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 12,352,718 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $153,421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190,915 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ford Motor by 287.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 606,057 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $7,388,000 after purchasing an additional 449,604 shares during the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on F. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Ford Motor in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Friday, March 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ford Motor from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ford Motor from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ford Motor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE F remained flat at $12.87 during midday trading on Wednesday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,894,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,023,340. Ford Motor has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $15.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.62.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $42.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.93 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 17.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ford Motor will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.86%.

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.