Caterpillar Inc (CAT): Today's Featured Industrial Winner

Caterpillar (CAT) pushed the Industrial industry higher today making it today's featured industrial winner. The industry as a whole closed the day down 0.2%. By the end of trading, Caterpillar rose 47 cents (0.6%) to $83.12 on average volume. Throughout the day, eight million shares of Caterpillar exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 7.6 million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $82.10-$84.30 after having opened the day at $82.46 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $82.65. Other companies within the Industrial industry that increased today were: China BAK Battery (CBAK), up 17.1%, H&E Equipment Services (HEES), up 17%, Energy Recovery (ERII), up 12.9%, and WSI Industries (WSCI), up 9.5%.

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Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. Caterpillar has a market cap of $54.95 billion and is part of the conglomerates sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 9.4, equal to the average conglomerates industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are down 8.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 11 analysts that rate Caterpillar a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and eight rate it a hold.

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.

On the negative front, China Development Group Corporation (CTDC), down 20%, Ultralife Batteries (ULBI), down 18%, Rexnord (RXN), down 17.9%, and Highway Holdings (HIHO), down 8.5%, were all laggards within the industrial industry with ABB (ABB) being today's industrial industry laggard.

• Use our industrial section to find industry-relevant news.
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For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the industrial industry could consider SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) while those bearish on the industrial industry could consider ProShares UltraShort Industrials (SIJ).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

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