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Caterpillar (CAT) Advances While Market Declines: Some Information for Investors

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Caterpillar (CAT - Free Report) closed at $304.76 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.5% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.06%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.35%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.76%.

Shares of the construction equipment company witnessed a gain of 2.56% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Industrial Products sector with its gain of 0.15% and underperforming the S&P 500's gain of 3.36%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Caterpillar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on February 5, 2024. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $4.76, showcasing a 23.32% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $17.15 billion, indicating a 3.36% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Caterpillar. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.06% lower. Caterpillar presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Caterpillar is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.77. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.41.

Also, we should mention that CAT has a PEG ratio of 1.15. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry stood at 0.96 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 19, placing it within the top 8% of over 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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