Dow Today: Caterpillar (CAT) Leads The Day Higher, American Express (AXP) Lags

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed down 35.0 points (-0.3%) at 13,135. During the day, 491.2 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 623 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio closed at 1,376 issues advancing vs. 1,596 declining with 138 unchanged.

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The Dow component that led the way higher today was Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), which sported a 64-cent gain (+0.7%) bringing the stock to $89. Volume for Caterpillar ended the day at 5.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of seven million shares.

Caterpillar has a market cap of $57.51 billion and is part of the conglomerates sector and conglomerates industry. Shares are down 2.9% year to date as of Thursday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.4%.

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 nine, 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 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 high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full Caterpillar Ratings Report.

Holding the Dow back today was American Express (NYSE:AXP), which lagged the broader Dow index with a $1.07 decline (-1.9%) bringing the stock to $56.65. This single loss lowered the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 8.1 points or roughly accounting for 23.1% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for American Express ended the day at five million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 5.2 million shares.

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American Express has a market cap of $64.54 billion and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are up 22.4% year to date as of Thursday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.4%.

American Express Company provides charge and credit payment card products and travel-related services to customers worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 13.3, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

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

• You can view the full American Express Ratings Report.

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