Ford Stock (NYSE:F) Notches Up as Ford Plans Small Buyback

Legacy automaker Ford F +0.39% ▲ just launched a plan that was greeted with mild investor interest despite the fact that it probably should have been met with cheers. Ford has been offering a lot of stock awards and convertibles lately, and as such, it is concerned about share dilution. But it is out to fix that with a big new buyback plan. Investors were reasonably pleased with this, and gave shares a fractional bump up in Monday afternoon’s trading.

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Ford is planning to buy back 31.7 million shares, a move that by current share pricing will cost it somewhere around $320 million. The combination of share-based pay, which was already given out, and convertible notes that came due just yesterday spurred Ford to realize that all this loose stock could drive down share prices.

Thus, Ford issued the buyback plan to call in some of its loose stock and shore up share prices accordingly. As it turns out, the buyback plan even has a connection to Ford’s shift away from electric vehicles. As Ford loses those sales in favor of hybrids and full-gas models, a move that will cost it about $19.5 billion, the buyback plan will help absorb some of those losses, reports note.

And Yes, Another Recall

We kick off the week with word of another recall, this time for vehicles packing the 2.0L EcoBoost I4 engine. This includes the 2025 Ford Maverick and the 2026 models of Ford Mustang, Ford Explorer, and Lincoln Corsair. The reason for the recall is an issue with the engine’s cylinder head. Reports suggest that the head ball plugs in the engine, once subject to normal operating oil pressure, may be expelled from the cylinder head. This in turn could cause an oil leak.

Interestingly, this recall will not directly impact any Ford customer, as none of the vehicles involved had actually been sold to a customer. They are all still on dealer lots, and dealers will be obliged to fix the cars before selling them, reports note.

Is Ford Stock a Good Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on F stock based on three Buys, 11 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 17.64% rally in its share price over the past year, the average F price target of $13.95 per share implies 18.98% upside potential.

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