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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 21st.

Caterpillar has increased its dividend by an average of 6.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Caterpillar has a payout ratio of 24.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 CAT opened at $393.84 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $363.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.44. The company has a market cap of $192.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.10. Caterpillar has a one year low of $223.76 and a one year high of $403.60. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $5.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $16.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.55 EPS. Caterpillar’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAT. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Caterpillar in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Caterpillar from $338.00 to $321.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $355.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $338.59 per share, with a total value of $33,859.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $338.59 per share, for a total transaction of $33,859.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $962,272.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.48, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.