Caterpillar (CAT) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $224.70 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.02% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.15%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.28%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 3.16%.
Heading into today, shares of the construction equipment company had lost 8.34% over the past month, lagging the Industrial Products sector's loss of 3.98% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.39% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Caterpillar as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.71, up 28.82% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $14.93 billion, up 9.9% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $15.67 per share and revenue of $63.72 billion, which would represent changes of +13.22% and +7.22%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Caterpillar. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.7% higher. Caterpillar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Caterpillar is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.49. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.34.
Meanwhile, CAT's PEG ratio is currently 1.21. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Manufacturing - Construction and Mining stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.22 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 21, putting it in the top 9% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report