Ford shares close lower on Wednesday, auto maker informs British PM May of its plans to relocate production

According to a report by The Times earlier this week, British Prime Minister Theresa May has been informed by Ford Motor Company (F) during a private call with business leaders that the US auto maker is accelerating preparations to relocate production from Britain to alternative sites abroad.

In January, Ford said that in case Britain parted ways with the European Union without a deal on March 29th, the company would incur a charge of up to $1 billion.

Ford shares closed lower for the sixth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Wednesday. The stock went down 0.59% ($0.05) to $8.41, after touching an intraday high at $8.52, or a price level not seen since February 7th ($8.62).

Shares of Ford Motor Company have risen 9.93% so far in 2019 compared with a 9.82% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Ford Motor Co’s stock plummeted 38.75%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Auto makers as well as manufacturers from other industries have already warned about the potential adverse effects, which a no-deal Brexit could have. Among those are higher tariffs, disrupted supply chains as well as an impact on the job market.

Currently, Ford has nearly 13 000 employees in Britain.

The UK also represents the third-largest market for Ford Motor Company, as almost one in three automobiles manufactured at Fords facility in Cologne, Germany are imported in Britain.

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Ford Motor Company’s stock price, have a median target of $9.75, with a high estimate of $12.00 and a low estimate of $6.00. The median estimate represents a 15.93% upside compared to the closing price of $8.41 on February 13th.

The same media also reported that 16 out of 23 surveyed investment analysts had rated Ford Motor Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 5 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Ford Motor Company (F) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $8.48
R1 – $8.81
R2 – $9.22
R3 – $9.55
R4 – $9.87

S1 – $8.07
S2 – $7.74
S3 – $7.33
S4 – $6.91