Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.41

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 21st will be paid a dividend of 1.41 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st.

Caterpillar has raised its dividend by an average of 6.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Caterpillar has a payout ratio of 24.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $22.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.6%.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CAT opened at $393.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $363.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $350.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.28. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $403.60. The company has a market capitalization of $192.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.53 by $0.46. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 59.88%. The business had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.55 earnings per share. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,750,181.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total transaction of $1,018,878.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,825.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 3,185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.36, for a total transaction of $1,119,081.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,750,181.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. Raymond James initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $399.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $349.00 to $332.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $355.50.

Caterpillar Company Profile

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.