J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "neutral"
The shares of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are down 0.7% at $11.44 at last check, struggling for direction after an upgrade from J.P. Morgan Securities to "overweight" from "neutral," with a price-target hike to $14 from $11. The analyst in coverage cited upcoming product launches such as the new Mustang Mach-E battery electric crossover, as well as the all-new F-150 as assembly lines get back into full swing.
After bouncing off the 60-day moving average at the start of the month, Ford stock has been climbing on the charts, touching a three-year high of $11.53 during yesterday's session. In 2021 alone, F sports a roughly 31% lead.
On the analyst front, today's bull note has plenty of room for company. Coming into today, eight of the 11 analysts in coverage carried a lukewarm "hold" rating. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $9.48 is a 17.1% discount to current levels.
The options pits are overwhelmingly bullish. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), F's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 9.80 and 50-day call/put volume ratio of 6.18 both stand higher than all other annual readings. This means calls haven't been picked up at a faster rate all year on both a short-term and long-term basis.
Drilling down to today's activity, options volume is running at double what's typically seen at this point. More specifically, 259,000 calls and 48,000 puts have crossed the tape so far, with the weekly 1/29 12-strike call being the most popular.