Caterpillar (CAT) Projected to Post Earnings on Thursday

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) is expected to release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect Caterpillar to post earnings of $5.00 per share and revenue of $16,480,748.34 billion for the quarter. Parties interested in listening to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Caterpillar to post $22 EPS for the current fiscal year and $22 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2 %

CAT stock opened at $397.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $192.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $379.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $368.17. Caterpillar has a 12 month low of $287.52 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This trade represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lange Bob De sold 12,657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.25, for a total value of $5,192,534.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,107 shares in the company, valued at $29,171,646.75. This represents a 15.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.