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In the latest market close, Caterpillar (CAT) reached $338.43, with a -0.39% movement compared to the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.49%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.22%.
The construction equipment company's shares have seen a decrease of 6.2% over the last month, surpassing the Industrial Products sector's loss of 6.79% and the S&P 500's loss of 8.15%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Caterpillar in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Caterpillar to post earnings of $4.32 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 22.86%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $14.65 billion, indicating a 7.29% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
CAT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $19.64 per share and revenue of $63.29 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -10.32% and -2.34%, respectively.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates 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.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 1.66% downward. Caterpillar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Digging into valuation, Caterpillar currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.3. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.3, which means Caterpillar is trading at no noticeable deviation to the group.
It's also important to note that CAT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.84. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.03 at yesterday's closing price.