The Dividend Daily

For the second straight month, mining and construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT) reported that its retail metrics showed a slowdown in global sales of machines and power systems.

The biggest markets for CAT, Asia and North America, saw steep declines in retail sales of machines in the rolling three month period ending in January; the Asian market’s sales were down 12% while the North American market’s sales were down 11%. Overall, retail sales of machines were down 4% compared to the year prior. Last month, Caterpillar reported that overall global sales for the three month period ending in December were down 1%.

Caterpillar did see some positives in its report, however. Europe, Africa, and Middle East sales were up 1% and Latin American sales were up 3%.

Furthermore, the company’s power systems retail statistics were down 7% overall. Industrial and Electric Power systems saw the biggest decline in sales, down 24% and 9%, respectively.

Caterpillar has been plagued by poor sales, diminishing demand, and growth concerns recently. Moreover, the company has been embroiled with the controversy over accounting fraud at a recently acquired Chinese company. These sales figures just add to the troubles ahead for CAT.

Caterpillar shares were down $1.28, or -1.36%, during morning trading on Wednesday. Over the past year the stock is down -17.34%.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Caterpillar (CAT) have a dividend yield of 2.21% based on Wednesday’s intraday trading price of $94.32 and the company’s annualized dividend payout of $2.08 per share.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.