Caterpillar (CAT) closed at $140.19 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.04% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily of 0%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.25%.
Heading into today, shares of the construction equipment company had gained 1.37% over the past month, lagging the Industrial Products sector's gain of 2.05% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.36% in that time.
CAT will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 24, 2019. In that report, analysts expect CAT to post earnings of $2.86 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 1.42%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $13.42 billion, up 4.39% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $12.24 per share and revenue of $57.45 billion, which would represent changes of +9.09% and +4.98%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CAT should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.02% higher within the past month. CAT is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, CAT is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.45. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.45, which means CAT is trading at a no noticeable deviation to the group.
Meanwhile, CAT's PEG ratio is currently 0.73. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.84 as of yesterday's close.
The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, which puts it in the top 16% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
To follow CAT in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT
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