Banco Santander S.A. Increases Holdings in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Ford Motor Company by 14.6%, acquiring 42,496 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 333,186 shares valued at approximately $3.34 million.
• Ford's shares are currently rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $10.40, following mixed reviews from several research firms.
• The company declared a $0.15 quarterly dividend, yielding 5.6%, to be paid to stockholders of record on August 11th.

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,186 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 42,496 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Ford Motor were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of F. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Ford Motor by 289.1% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 2,533 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.74% of the company's stock.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE F traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.94. 56,585,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 71,142,800. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.22. Ford Motor Company has a 1 year low of $8.44 and a 1 year high of $11.97. The stock has a market cap of $43.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.48.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $50.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.91 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 1.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ford Motor Company will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. Ford Motor's payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew Frick sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 113,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,253,329. The trade was a 20.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

F has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Ford Motor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Ford Motor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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, April 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ford Motor from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ford Motor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.40.

Ford Motor 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.