The stock price of Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) has plunged by -2.30 when compared to previous closing price of 362.23, but the company has seen a -1.38% decline in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. marketbeat.com reported 2025-02-12 that The Los Angeles wildfires are estimated to have caused between $95 billion to $164 billion in property damage, with insured losses reaching $75 billion. The cleanup and rebuilding effort will take years.
Is It Worth Investing in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) Right Now?
Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04x compared to its average ratio. CAT has 36-month beta value of 1.13. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 7 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 3 as “overweight,” 14 as “hold,” and 4 as “sell.”
The public float for CAT is 480.86M, and currently, short sellers hold a 1.68% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of CAT on February 12, 2025 was 2.08M shares.
CAT’s Market Performance
CAT’s stock has seen a -1.38% decrease for the week, with a -2.37% drop in the past month and a -10.04% fall in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 1.44%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 1.99% for Caterpillar Inc The simple moving average for the last 20 days is -6.47% for CAT stock, with a simple moving average of -2.11% for the last 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of CAT
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for CAT stocks, with UBS repeating the rating for CAT by listing it as a “Neutral.” The predicted price for CAT in the upcoming period, according to UBS is $385 based on the research report published on February 03, 2025 of the current year 2025.
Evercore ISI, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see CAT reach a price target of $365. The rating they have provided for CAT stocks is “In-line” according to the report published on January 13th, 2025.
Evercore ISI gave a rating of “Underperform” to CAT, setting the target price at $365 in the report published on November 13th of the previous year.
CAT Trading at -6.06% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought CAT to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -15.44% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.99%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 1.44%, as shares sank -5.02% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -12.58% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, CAT fell by -1.66%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +4.41% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $378.32. In addition, Caterpillar Inc saw -2.44% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at CAT starting from Johnson Gerald, who purchase 100 shares at the price of $365.57 back on Feb 04 ’25. After this action, Johnson Gerald now owns 3,053 shares of Caterpillar Inc, valued at $36,557 using the latest closing price.
BONFIELD ANDREW R J, the Chief Financial Officer of Caterpillar Inc, sale 10,000 shares at $380.09 during a trade that took place back on Jan 16 ’25, which means that BONFIELD ANDREW R J is holding 45,182 shares at $3,800,900 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for CAT
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.21 for the present operating margin
- 0.36 for the gross margin
The net margin for Caterpillar Inc stands at 0.16. The total capital return value is set at 0.25. Equity return is now at value 55.36, with 12.32 for asset returns.
Based on Caterpillar Inc (CAT), the company’s capital structure generated 0.66 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.33. The debt to equity ratio resting at 1.95. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 25.49.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 15.71 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 1.98. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 3.1. The receivables turnover for the company is 3.43for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.76. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.42.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Caterpillar Inc (CAT) has had a bad performance in recent times. Analysts have a bullish opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
