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Caterpillar (CAT) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

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In the latest trading session, Caterpillar (CAT - Free Report) closed at $334.16, marking a +0.04% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.45%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.23%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.84%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the construction equipment company had lost 0.59% over the past month. This has lagged the Industrial Products sector's gain of 0.49% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.54% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Caterpillar in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect Caterpillar to post earnings of $5.37 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 2.72%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $16.3 billion, indicating a 3.05% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $21.88 per share and a revenue of $65.35 billion, indicating changes of +3.16% and -2.55%, respectively, from the former year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Caterpillar. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.36% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Right now, Caterpillar possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Caterpillar is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 15.27. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 9.87 for its industry.

It is also worth noting that CAT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.56. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.53 at yesterday's closing price.

The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 205, this industry ranks in the bottom 19% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

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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