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

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a dividend of 1.41 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st.

Caterpillar has raised its dividend by an average of 8.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 30 consecutive years. Caterpillar has a payout ratio of 23.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $21.83 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 25.8%.

Caterpillar Price Performance

NYSE:CAT opened at $386.03 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $380.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $367.03. Caterpillar has a 1-year low of $277.66 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $186.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Caterpillar from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $349.00 to $332.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Caterpillar currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total value of $368,788.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total value of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,356.84. This represents a 17.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,868 shares of company stock worth $13,480,389 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.