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

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 9th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of 1.41 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%.

Caterpillar has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.3% 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 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $22.11 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 25.5%.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAT traded down $1.31 on Wednesday, hitting $272.63. The company had a trading volume of 415,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,590,238. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar has a 12-month low of $266.62 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $339.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $369.39.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wedbush upgraded Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $373.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at $17,173,226.38. The trade was a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. The trade was a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Caterpillar stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.