Zacks Research Has Negative View of Caterpillar Q1 Earnings

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Caterpillar in a research note issued on Thursday, February 13th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $4.32 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $4.59. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $20.05 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Caterpillar’s FY2027 earnings at $22.12 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CAT. StockNews.com raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised Caterpillar from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $365.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $350.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $383.13.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Caterpillar stock opened at $355.42 on Monday. 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 has a 12 month low of $307.05 and a 12 month high of $418.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.29. The stock has a market cap of $171.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.12.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced 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%.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 25.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Anthony D. Fassino sold 6,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.59, for a total value of $2,565,536.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,565 shares in the company, valued at $13,714,323.35. This represents a 15.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gerald Johnson acquired 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $365.57 per share, for a total transaction of $36,557.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,085.21. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Caterpillar

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 635,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. West Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,902 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,084,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Caterpillar by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.