DA Davidson Has Negative Outlook for Caterpillar Q1 Earnings

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at DA Davidson dropped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Caterpillar in a research note issued on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson analyst M. Shlisky now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $4.59 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $4.70. DA Davidson has a "Neutral" rating and a $325.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar's current full-year earnings is $19.86 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Caterpillar's FY2025 earnings at $20.10 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $22.50 EPS.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%.

CAT has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $430.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Caterpillar to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Caterpillar from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Caterpillar from $438.00 to $389.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $361.75.

Caterpillar Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE CAT traded down $1.91 on Wednesday, hitting $304.54. 888,213 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,615,090. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $321.41 and a 200 day moving average of $360.15. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $267.30 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The company has a market capitalization of $145.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Caterpillar Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Caterpillar news, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, with a total value of $36,557.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 value of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.