Caterpillar (CAT) Projected to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

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

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 59.09%. The company had revenue of $16.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 3.2 %

CAT stock opened at $394.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $381.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $369.79. The stock has a market cap of $190.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $297.45 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Caterpillar news, Director Daniel M. Dickinson sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.00, for a total transaction of $543,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,079,968. The trade was a 20.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. The trade was a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $471.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment 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 MarketBeat, Caterpillar has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

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.