Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 21st

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 9th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be paid a dividend of 1.41 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st.

Caterpillar has raised its dividend by an average of 8.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Caterpillar has a dividend payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Caterpillar to earn $22.11 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 25.5%.

Caterpillar Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE:CAT opened at $288.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.21. Caterpillar has a 52-week low of $267.30 and a 52-week high of $418.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $367.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Caterpillar will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAT. Bank of America reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Caterpillar to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $373.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total transaction of $3,800,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald Johnson bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,085.21. This represents a 3.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Caterpillar stock. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently 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.