Caterpillar (CAT) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) will be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Caterpillar to post earnings of $5.11 per share for the quarter. Persons that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $17.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.06 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 56.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Caterpillar to post $21 EPS for the current fiscal year and $23 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.4 %

Caterpillar stock opened at $358.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.17. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $204.04 and a 1-year high of $382.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $345.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,693,812.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.10, for a total value of $3,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,774,001.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $323.37 per share, for a total transaction of $113,179.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,238 shares in the company, valued at $1,693,812.06. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,769 shares of company stock worth $14,509,306. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the second quarter worth $60,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Caterpillar by 376.7% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 636.4% during the second quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $338.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Caterpillar from $300.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Caterpillar from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Caterpillar from $255.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.56.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.