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

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 9th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%.

Caterpillar has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Caterpillar has a dividend payout ratio of 24.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $22.93 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 Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE CAT traded up $6.37 on Wednesday, hitting $394.33. 552,784 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,653,927. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $353.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $348.44. The company has a market capitalization of $192.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $223.76 and a 52-week high of $401.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Insider Transactions at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Caterpillar news, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $527,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,480,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,668 shares of company stock worth $2,665,760 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CAT shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Raymond James assumed coverage on Caterpillar in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $376.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $339.94.

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.