Ford Sees Better-Than-Expected '15 Profit, Declares $1B Supplemental Dividend

Ford Motor Company F is convinced it will keep wowing investors heading into 2016. In an after-hours press release from the company Tuesday, Ford gave several pieces of seemingly positive news:

• expects to record a FY15 pre-tax profit, excluding special items, in the upper half of the previously issued $10 billion to $11 billion range;
• sees automotive sales and operating margin during 2016 at or higher than the 2015 level; and,
• declared a $1 billion supplemental cash dividend.

The supplemental cash dividend equates to about $0.25 per share. This payment will come in addition to Ford's regular cash dividend of $0.15 per share. Both dividends will be paid on March 1, 2016 to holders of record on January 29, 2016. Mark Fields, Ford President and CEO, elaborated: "In 2015, we achieved a breakthrough year as promised. For 2016, we're looking forward to delivering another outstanding year." But shares of Ford are not trading higher in Tuesday's post-market trade. After closing up about 0.6 percent at $12.85 for the intraday session, the stock had fallen about 3.5 percent to $12.85.