Dow Today: Boeing (BA) Leads The Day Higher, Caterpillar (CAT) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed up seven points at 12,890. During the day, 969.6 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 818.6 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio closed at 1,519 issues advancing vs. 1,486 declining with 116 unchanged.

The Dow component that led the way higher today was Boeing (NYSE:BA), which sported a 44-cent gain (+0.6%) bringing the stock to $75.90. This single gain is lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 3.33 points or roughly accounting for 47.6% of the Dow's overall gain. Volume for Boeing ended the day at 4.5 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 5.3 million shares.

Boeing has a market cap of $56.01 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector and aerospace/defense industry. Shares are up 2.9% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.3%.

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale, and support of commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and launch systems and services worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 14.1, below the average aerospace/defense industry P/E ratio of 14.9 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Boeing as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, solid stock price performance, compelling growth in net income, good cash flow from operations and impressive record of earnings per share growth. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full Boeing Ratings Report.

Holding the Dow back today was Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), which lagged the broader Dow index with a $1.21 decline (-1.1%) bringing the stock to $112.83. Volume for Caterpillar ended the day at 7.5 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 7.8 million shares.

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Caterpillar has a market cap of $68.73 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector and industrial industry. Shares are up 25.9% year to date as of Wednesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.6%.

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The company has a P/E ratio of 15.4, below the average industrial industry P/E ratio of 16.3 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Caterpillar as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, notable return on equity, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full Caterpillar Ratings Report.

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