The 2015 Ford Flex SUV and F-Series pickup are promising entries in wildly profitable segments. Flex gives the German automakers some competition.
Ford Motor Company declared a fourth quarter dividend of $0.125 per share on the company’s outstanding Class B, which the family controls and live off of, and common stock. This is the same dividend paid in the first three quarters of 2014, which is a 25% increase the dividend paid in each quarter of 2013.
Ford stock has been slumping recently after Ford removed $1 billion from its annual profit guidance and analysts balked. Selling in the $14 per share range, this translates to a ~3.4% dividend from Ford. Morgan Stanley now lists Ford as an Underweight rating from an overweight position. The investment banking firm sets a $16 price target on shares of the automaker.
In a classic management screw up under newly minted CEO Mark Fields, Ford took $2 billion out of its profit forecast. Ford had said that a $7 to $8 billion profit would appear for 2014, but now says it will be more like $6 billion. Approximately $1 billion will be lost because of recalls, another $900 million due to the South American implosion. GDP growth there has slowed significantly and another recession appears certain.
The fourth quarter dividend is payable on 1 December 2014 to shareholders of record on 31 October 2014.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
