Principal Securities Inc. Purchases Shares of 49,215 Ford Motor (NYSE:F)

Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Ford Motor (NYSE:F) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 49,215 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ford Motor by 9.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,050,208 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $13,044,000 after buying an additional 94,880 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ford Motor by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,979 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 4,961 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Ford Motor by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 281,068 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,535 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 24,696 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IRON Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 12,168 shares during the last quarter. 58.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on F shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research report on Friday, March 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ford Motor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ford Motor from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.74.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Shares of F stock opened at $12.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.83. The company has a market capitalization of $49.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. Ford Motor has a 1-year low of $9.63 and a 1-year high of $15.42.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $42.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.93 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 17.63% and a net margin of 2.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ford Motor will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. Ford Motor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mark Kosman sold 26,898 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $337,031.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,102 shares in the company, valued at $88,988.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.