Caterpillar (CAT) Stock Moves -1.17%: What You Should Know
Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $214.09 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.17% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.89%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.17%.
Heading into today, shares of the construction equipment company had gained 5.06% over the past month, outpacing the Industrial Products sector's loss of 0.04% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.79% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Caterpillar as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 28, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.23, up 5.19% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.31 billion, up 18.49% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Caterpillar should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% lower within the past month. Caterpillar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Caterpillar currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.62. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.21, which means Caterpillar is trading at a premium to the group.
Investors should also note that CAT has a PEG ratio of 1.47 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.49 as of yesterday's close.
The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 104, putting it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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