As of the September 30 reporting date, short interest in Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) fell by 18.6%, from 101.65 million shares to 82.71 million shares. That’s the lowest short interest in the stock since mid-May.
Compared with early July the shares now trade flat after dropping 14% in late August. The stock regained some of the loss by early September, and traded roughly flat — with some volatility — until September new car sales were reported. At that point, shares took off and moved from down about 6% since July to up more than 3%. Short sellers had read the tea leaves correctly, apparently, and pulled out.
Ford’s F-150 pickup has finally become available in the numbers that the company had been projecting and sales have been strong for the past two months, and selling prices have been solid as well. Truck sales rose 29% year-over-year in September. Fleet sales of F-150s are likely still behind and filling those orders could continue to boost sales through the fourth quarter.
Ford is also positioned to take advantage of Volkswagen’s current woes over its diesel emissions cheating. Analysts at Edmunds.com note that 26% of VW shoppers also shop for Ford vehicles. That’s the highest cross-shopping rate among VW’s competitors, ahead of both Honda (23%) and Toyota (20%). If Ford can figure out a way to convert a portion of these shoppers to buyers, the incremental sales could deliver both short- and long-term good news for the company.
Ford’s stock closed at $14.99 on Friday, down fractionally on the day, in a 52-week range of $10.44 to $16.74. The consensus price target on the stock is $17.50.
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