Caterpillar’s (CAT) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Citigroup reissued their buy rating on shares of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $420.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $370.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group raised Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer raised Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Caterpillar from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.83.

Caterpillar Trading Up 2.7%

CAT opened at $381.70 on Tuesday. Caterpillar has a one year low of $267.30 and a one year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $179.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.48.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 53.77%. The business had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 19.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This is an increase from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other Caterpillar news, Director David Maclennan bought 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the purchase, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caterpillar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CAT. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $579,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Caterpillar by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Caterpillar by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prasad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.