Ford shares rebound on Thursday, auto maker appoints Kumar Galhotra as President of its North America business

Kumar Galhotra, who has served as Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer since 2017, was reported to have been named by the company as President of its North America business, after Raj Nair abruptly left the auto maker on February 21st. Galhotra’s appointment is effective March 1st.

Ford shares closed higher for the fourth time in the past six trading sessions on Thursday. The stock edged up 0.28% ($0.03) to $10.63, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $10.73 and $10.58 respectively.

In the week ended on February 18th the shares of the global automotive company added 0.76% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the first gain out of five weeks.

The stock has pared its loss to 3.10% so far during the current month, following an 11.17% slump in January. The latter has been a second consecutive monthly loss and also the largest one since January 2016.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed auto maker rose 2.97% following a 13.91% slump in 2016.

On Wednesday Ford announced that Raj Nair was to part ways with the company immediately, after an internal investigation had concluded that his behavior was ”inconsistent with the company’s code of conduct.”

Having been employed with Ford for 29 years and having served previously as Vice President of Ford’s luxury Lincoln arm, Kumar Galhotra is expected to report to Jim Farley, Ford’s Executive Vice President.

Along with Galhotra’s appointment, there have been other changes to Ford’s team of executives. Joy Falotico is to succeed Galhotra as Vice President of Lincoln and also as Ford’s Chief Marketing Officer.

At the same time, Stuart Rowley has been appointed as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ford North America, while David McClelland has been named as Vice President of Ford and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Credit Company.

According to CNN Money, the 22 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Ford Motor Company’s stock price, have a median target of $13.00, with a high estimate of $15.00 and a low estimate of $8.00. The median estimate is a 22.30% surge compared to the closing price of $10.63 on February 22nd.

The same media also reported that 17 out of 24 surveyed investment analysts had rated Ford Motor Company’s stock as “Hold”, while 4 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Ford stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $10.644
R2 – $10.658
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $10.671
R4 (Long Breakout) – $10.713
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $10.761
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $10.781

S1 – $10.616
S2 – $10.603
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $10.589
S4 (Short Breakout) – $10.548
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $10.499
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $10.479

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

Central Pivot Point – $10.643
R1 – $10.787
R2 – $10.963
R3 – $11.107
R4 – $11.250

S1 – $10.467
S2 – $10.323
S3 – $10.147
S4 – $9.970