Zacks Research Increases Earnings Estimates for Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for Caterpillar in a report issued on Monday, May 19th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now expects that the industrial products company will post earnings of $4.93 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.91. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar's current full-year earnings is $19.86 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Caterpillar's Q3 2026 earnings at $4.97 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $5.23 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $19.72 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $21.56 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CAT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised shares of Caterpillar from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $396.00 target price (up from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Caterpillar from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $309.00 to $395.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $375.33.

Caterpillar Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $342.67 on Thursday. Caterpillar has a fifty-two week low of $267.30 and a fifty-two week high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.46. The company has a market cap of $161.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 2.1% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 7,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. MBL Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 218.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 41,743 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,763,000 after buying an additional 28,650 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Caterpillar by 4.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,684 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,172,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Acorns Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Caterpillar by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st were paid a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.