Q3 2023 EPS Estimates for Caterpillar Inc. Lifted by Zacks Research (NYSE:CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2023 earnings per share estimates for Caterpillar in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 30th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $4.02 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.97. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $19.81 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Caterpillar’s Q4 2023 earnings at $4.48 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $18.96 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $4.68 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $5.28 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $4.91 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $5.03 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $19.90 EPS.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $5.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.57 by $0.98. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

CAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Caterpillar from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Caterpillar from $275.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $183.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $279.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.00.

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $282.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.07. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $160.60 and a twelve month high of $293.88.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 20th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $5,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 53,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,759,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Lange Bob De sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $5,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 53,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,759,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph E. Creed sold 7,286 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.25, for a total value of $2,078,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,995 shares of company stock worth $14,484,353. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $2,580,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,634,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $405,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar, Inc engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.