Yahoo Finance Caterpillar (CAT) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $146.38 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.32% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.28%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.42%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.03%.
Heading into today, shares of the construction equipment company had gained 3.86% over the past month, outpacing the Industrial Products sector's gain of 2.99% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.31% in that time.
CAT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 31, 2020. In that report, analysts expect CAT to post earnings of $2.38 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 6.67%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $13.63 billion, down 4.96% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CAT should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-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. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.77% lower. CAT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that CAT has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.85 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.34, so we one might conclude that CAT is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that CAT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.58. 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 1.48 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 231, putting it in the bottom 10% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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