How to buy Ford shares

Ford Motor Company is an auto manufacturers business with stocks listed in the US. Ford shares (F) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$11.76 – an increase of 1.55% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Ford

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Ford. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: F. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Ford reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$11.76, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Ford, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Ford. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

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Ford share price

Use our graph to track the performance of F stocks over time.

Ford shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-02-23.

52-week range	US$3.96 - US$12.04
50-day moving average	US$10.6774
200-day moving average	US$8.5398
Target price	US$11.21
PE ratio	674
Dividend yield	US$0.15 (1.28%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$0.4

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Ford stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Ford Motor Company by TradingView

Ford price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $11.76 on 2021-02-25

1 week (2021-02-18)	2.89%
1 month (2021-01-26)	5.09%
3 months (2020-11-25)	29.52%
6 months (2020-08-26)	72.43%

1 year (2020-02-26)	63.11%
2 years (2019-02-26)	32.43%
3 years (2018-02-26)	7.99%
5 years (2016-02-26)	-5.69%

Is Ford under- or over-valued?

Valuing Ford stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Ford's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Ford's P/E ratio

Ford's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 674x. In other words, Ford shares trade at around 674x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Ford's PEG ratio

Ford's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.5644. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Ford's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Ford's EBITDA

Ford's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$4.8 billion (£3.5 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Ford's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Ford financials

Revenue TTM	US$127.1 billion
Gross profit TTM	US$6.1 billion
Return on assets TTM	-0.6%
Return on equity TTM	-3.99%
Profit margin	-1.01%
Book value	7.714
Market capitalisation	US$46.2 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Ford shares

There are currently 76.1 million Ford shares held short by investors – that's known as Ford's "short interest". This figure is 21.8% down from 97.3 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Ford shares can be evaluated.

Ford's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Ford's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Ford shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Ford shares traded daily (recently around 92.8 million). Ford's SIR currently stands at 0.82. In other words for every 100,000 Ford shares traded daily on the market, roughly 820 shares are currently held short.

However Ford's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Ford shares, or, against the total number of tradable Ford shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Ford's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Ford shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0215% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Ford shares, roughly 22 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Ford.

Find out more about how you can short Ford stock.

Ford's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Ford.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Ford's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 29.02

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Ford's overall score of 29.02 (as at 01/01/2019) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 56th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Ford is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Ford's environmental score

Environmental score: 7.54/100

Ford's social score

Social score: 9.22/100

Ford's governance score

Governance score: 7.26/100

Ford's controversy score

Controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Ford scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Ford hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Ford Motor Company was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	29.02
Total ESG percentile	56.26
Environmental score	7.54
Social score	9.22
Governance score	7.26
Level of controversy	3

Ford share dividends

We're not expecting Ford to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Ford's shares ever split?

Ford's shares were split on a 1748175:10 basis on 3 August 2000. So if you had owned 10 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1748175 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Ford shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 100% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Ford shares which in turn could have impacted Ford's share price.

Ford share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Ford's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$3.96 up to US$12.04. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Ford's is 1.1969. This would suggest that Ford's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Ford overview

Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, markets, and services a range of Ford trucks, cars, sport utility vehicles, electrified vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through three segments: Automotive, Mobility, and Ford Credit. The Automotive segment 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. The Mobility segment designs and builds mobility services; and provides self-driving systems development services. The Ford Credit segment primarily engages in vehicle-related financing and leasing activities to and through automotive dealers. It provides retail installment sale contracts for new and used vehicles; and direct financing leases for new vehicles to retail and commercial customers, such as leasing companies, government entities, daily rental companies, and fleet customers. This segment also offers wholesale loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; and loans to dealers to finance working capital and enhance dealership facilities, purchase dealership real estate, and other dealer vehicle programs. The company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Ford is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.191% of Ford shares are held by insiders and 52.101% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Ford?

  Ford's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Ford based?

  Ford's address is: One American Road, Dearborn, MI, United States, 48126-1899

• What is Ford's ISIN number?

  Ford's international securities identification number is: US3453708600

• What is Ford's CUSIP number?

  Ford's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 345370100