Dow Today: Caterpillar (CAT) Leads The Day Higher, Cisco Systems (CSCO) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is trading down 41.0 points (-0.3%) at 12,680 as of Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012, 9:35 a.m. ET. During this time, 30.4 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 683.5 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,300 issues advancing vs. 1,330 declining with 179 unchanged.

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The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), which is sporting a $1.31 gain (+1.6%) bringing the stock to $82.89. Volume for Caterpillar currently sits at 511,774 shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 7.2 million shares.

Caterpillar has a market cap of $52.82 billion and is part of the conglomerates sector and conglomerates industry. Shares are down 10% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.6%.

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 10.2, equal to the average conglomerates industry P/E ratio 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, 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.

Holding back the Dow today is Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), which is lagging the broader Dow index with a 63-cent decline (-3.9%) bringing the stock to $15.44. This single loss is lowering the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 4.77 points or roughly accounting for 11.6% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for Cisco Systems currently sits at 6.1 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 43.5 million shares.

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Cisco Systems has a market cap of $87.64 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer hardware industry. Shares are down 11.1% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2%.

Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 12, equal to the average computer hardware industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Cisco Systems as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income, revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

• You can view the full Cisco Systems Ratings Report.

 

For more information on Caterpillar Inc click any of the following:

• Caterpillar Inc Stock Price

• Caterpillar Inc Analyst Ratings

• Caterpillar Inc Key Stats & Profile

• Caterpillar Inc Earnings

• Caterpillar Inc Ratio Comparison

• Caterpillar Inc Growth Rates

• Caterpillar Inc Balance Sheet

• Caterpillar Inc Cash Flow

• Caterpillar Inc Income Statement