Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) shares got a boost Wednesday after the revelation that Morgan Stanley has turned to bullish from bearish on the automaker.
Ford was up around 3.3% in midday trading, at US$11.13 a share.
According to multiple media reports, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones has raised his rating on Ford to overweight from underweight, where it had been since 2014, and has boosted his price target on Ford stock from US$10 a share to US$15, which is 35% above current levels.
"We believe the skew of negative sentiment has taken valuation to attractive levels ... levels where we calculate the value of the F-150 franchise may be worth more than 150% of the company's enterprise value," Jones wrote in a note to clients, according to MarketWatch. "While Ford still has a lot of room to improve its performance vs. peers, we believe our estimates may have bottomed."
MarketWatch quotes Jones as stating that he has raised his underlying earnings forecasts for Ford "by the greatest amount in nearly five years," with his 2018 earnings-per-share estimate rising to US$1.44 from US$1.40, his 2019 EPS to US$1.26 from US$1.06 and his 2020 EPS estimate to US$1.33 from US$1.07.