Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $375.50.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Caterpillar from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Caterpillar Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $353.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $317.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st will be issued a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This trade represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,742.50. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 39.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,317,000 after acquiring an additional 11,384 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 125.6% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 67,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,410,000 after acquiring an additional 37,830 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 97.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,963,000 after acquiring an additional 28,308 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the first quarter worth $309,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 172.5% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% 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.