Zacks Research Has Positive View of Caterpillar Q2 Earnings

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Caterpillar in a report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now expects that the industrial products company will post earnings of $5.19 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $5.14. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $21.69 per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $299.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Caterpillar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Caterpillar from $460.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $380.60.

Caterpillar Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CAT opened at $406.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $380.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $368.38. Caterpillar has a 1 year low of $288.34 and a 1 year high of $418.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.33 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $16.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.37 billion. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 59.09% and a net margin of 16.26%. Caterpillar’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.52 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Caterpillar by 52.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,812,000 after purchasing an additional 6,008 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 39.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 255,605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,976,000 after buying an additional 71,788 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Caterpillar by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,108,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $702,431,000 after acquiring an additional 198,123 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 2nd quarter worth about $651,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Caterpillar by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 128,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,721,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caterpillar

In related news, CAO William E. Schaupp sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.98, for a total transaction of $368,788.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,332.28. This represents a 36.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cheryl H. Johnson sold 2,664 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.84, for a total transaction of $1,009,229.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,356.84. This trade represents a 17.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,868 shares of company stock valued at $13,480,389. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.15%.

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.