Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Caterpillar has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 25 analysts, with 13 buys, 11 holds and one strong buy; the average 12-month price target is approximately $995.52.
• The company reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $8.17 beating estimates by $1.95 and revenue rising 23.7% year over year to $20.54 billion.
• Caterpillar raised its quarterly dividend to $1.63 per share, equivalent to a $6.52 annualized payout and a 0.8% yield, while institutional investors own nearly 71% of the stock.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $995.5238.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAT. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Caterpillar from $845.00 to $882.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $1,002.00 target price on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $877.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $820.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $970.00 price objective on shares of Caterpillar in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Caterpillar by 105,696.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 747,331,911 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $795,833,752,000 after buying an additional 746,625,522 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the second quarter worth approximately $40,457,153,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,388,550 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,273,039,000 after acquiring an additional 385,204 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,610,182 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,072,572,000 after acquiring an additional 94,524 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Caterpillar by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,493,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,438,408,000 after purchasing an additional 54,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Caterpillar

Here are the key news stories impacting Caterpillar this week:

• Positive Sentiment: July durable-goods orders rose 1.1%, suggesting a manufacturing rebound that could support demand for Caterpillar’s construction, mining and industrial equipment. CAT was identified as one of several industrial stocks positioned to benefit. 4 Industrial Stocks to Grab on Robust Jump in Durable Goods Orders
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank reportedly expects stronger earnings for Caterpillar, adding to the constructive analyst outlook surrounding the company. Erste Group Bank Predicts Stronger Earnings for Caterpillar
• Positive Sentiment: Caterpillar’s power-generation business is benefiting from rising electricity demand tied to data centers and artificial intelligence. Recent coverage points to a first-ever quarterly sales total above $20 billion and identifies power generation as an increasingly important growth engine. Forget the Industry Labels: Chevron and Caterpillar Are Both Betting on the AI Power Boom
• Positive Sentiment: The company is applying its autonomous-mining expertise to industrial AI deployment, including field-support tools such as the Cat AI Assistant. Caterpillar also committed $100 million to AI and robotics workforce training, which could improve productivity and strengthen its technology positioning. Caterpillar Commits $100 Million to AI and Robotics Training
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s average brokerage recommendation remains bullish, but the coverage notes that sell-side ratings are often overly optimistic and may have limited predictive value for CAT’s performance. Is Caterpillar a Buy as Wall Street Analysts Look Optimistic?
• Negative Sentiment: At a high earnings multiple, Caterpillar is increasingly being valued like a technology-growth company. That raises the risk of pressure on the stock if AI-related growth, power-equipment demand or earnings forecasts fail to exceed expectations. How AI Power Demand Transformed Caterpillar into a High-Multiple Tech Play

Caterpillar Price Performance

Shares of CAT opened at $797.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $889.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $838.20. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $410.52 and a twelve month high of $1,073.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $8.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.22 by $1.95. Caterpillar had a net margin of 14.51% and a return on equity of 55.53%. The firm had revenue of $20.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Caterpillar will post 27.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Caterpillar's previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc is a global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and locomotives. The company's product portfolio includes earthmoving machines such as excavators, bulldozers, wheel loaders and off‑highway trucks, as well as a range of power generation products including generator sets and power systems for industrial and commercial use. Caterpillar serves customers across heavy construction, mining, energy, transportation and related industries with both equipment and integrated technology solutions.

In addition to manufacturing, Caterpillar provides a broad range of aftermarket parts and support services, including maintenance, repair, remanufacturing and fleet management tools.

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