Caterpillar (CAT) Competitors

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking and profitability.

Do analysts recommend DE or CAT?

Deere & Company currently has a consensus target price of $460.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.11%. Caterpillar has a consensus target price of $383.80, indicating a potential upside of 12.15%. Given Caterpillar's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Caterpillar is more favorable than Deere & Company.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Deere & Company	0 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38
Caterpillar	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.39

Which has more volatility & risk, DE or CAT?

Deere & Company has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Caterpillar has a beta of 1.15, indicating that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is DE or CAT a better dividend stock?

Deere & Company pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Caterpillar pays an annual dividend of $5.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Deere & Company pays out 28.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Caterpillar pays out 25.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Caterpillar has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Caterpillar is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DE or CAT?

Caterpillar received 50 more outperform votes than Deere & Company when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.57% of users gave Deere & Company an outperform vote while only 62.29% of users gave Caterpillar an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Deere & Company	Outperform Votes 1161 64.57%	Underperform Votes 637 35.43%
Caterpillar	Outperform Votes 1211 62.29%	Underperform Votes 733 37.71%

Does the media favor DE or CAT?

In the previous week, Caterpillar had 4 more articles in the media than Deere & Company. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Caterpillar and 41 mentions for Deere & Company. Deere & Company's average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Caterpillar's score of 1.40 indicating that Deere & Company is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Deere & Company	37 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Caterpillar	37 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in DE or CAT?

68.6% of Deere & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.0% of Caterpillar shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Deere & Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Caterpillar shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is DE or CAT more profitable?

Caterpillar has a net margin of 16.65% compared to Deere & Company's net margin of 12.94%. Caterpillar's return on equity of 58.18% beat Deere & Company's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Deere & Company	12.94%	27.31%	5.87%
Caterpillar	16.65%	58.18%	12.57%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, DE or CAT?

Caterpillar has higher revenue and earnings than Deere & Company. Caterpillar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Deere & Company, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Deere & Company	$46.93B	2.77	$7.10B	$22.56	21.26
Caterpillar	$64.81B	2.52	$10.79B	$22.07	15.51

Summary

Caterpillar beats Deere & Company on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.