The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades Ford Motor (NYSE:F) to “Buy”

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $13.00 price target on the auto manufacturer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $12.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ford Motor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Ford Motor from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $12.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.72.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Ford Motor stock opened at $10.57 on Tuesday. Ford Motor has a 52-week low of $9.49 and a 52-week 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio is 61.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in F. Coatue Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $149,152,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,150,709 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $721,047,000 after buying an additional 3,521,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Ford Motor by 456.9% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,000,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $50,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ford Motor by 103.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,908,726 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $60,844,000 after buying an additional 2,497,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.74% of the company’s stock.

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.