#1 - Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT)
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) leads off this list of industrial stocks with good reason. The company’s signature yellow heavy equipment is synonymous with building activity. In the last 12 months, CAT stock is up 27.8% and it’s up 18.7% in 2024. That’s encouraging because the company has missed analysts’ revenue estimates during the first two quarters of 2024.
Since the company’s Q2 earnings report in August, analyst sentiment has turned bearish, but the stock is still posting a slight gain in the 30 days ending August 28, 2024. That could mean that investors are looking at Caterpillar as a sector rotation winner.
CAT stock is down about 8% from its all-time and 52-week high set early in 2024. However, while you wait, you’re collecting a dividend that the company has increased for 30 consecutive years. Plus, the payout ratio of approximately 25% is supported by projections of high, single-digit earnings growth in the next 12 months. The next dividend increase won’t happen until 2025, but a payout of $5.64 per share is a good reason to hold shares of this dividend aristocrat.
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.
Read More - Current Price
- $384.07
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 6 Buy Ratings, 7 Hold Ratings, 4 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $365.33 (4.9% Downside)
