Should Value Investors Consider Caterpillar Stock Now?

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Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer tantalizing discounts compared to fair value?

Should Value Investors Buy Caterpillar (CAT) Stock at This Point?

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One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the price-earnings ratio, or PE for short. That shows how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, CAT stock has a PE ratio of 11.65, based on its earnings over the last 12 months, as you can see in the chart below:

This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market as a whole, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 18.35. If we focus on the long-term PE trend, the current PE level pf CAT stock puts it below its average of the past five years.

Further, the PE of CAT stock compares favorably with the Zacks Industrial Products sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 16.03. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers.

We should also point out that CAT has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of just 10.85, so it is fair to say that a slightly more value-oriented path may be ahead for Caterpillar stock in the near term too.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the price/sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, which are far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, Caterpillar has a P/S ratio of about 1.34. This is lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.23 right now.  Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.

If anything, CAT is in the lower end of its range in the time period from a P/S metric, suggesting some level of undervalued trading—at least compared to historical norms.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, CAT stock currently has a Zacks Value Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we evaluate using this method. This makes CAT stock a solid choice for value investors.

What About the Stock Overall?  

Though Caterpillar might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that CAT has a Growth Score of B and a Momentum Score of C. This gives CAT a Zacks VGM score, representing its overarching fundamental grade, of B. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been disappointing. The current quarter has seen seven estimates go lower in the past sixty days compared to no movement in the opposite direction while the current year estimate has seen twelve downward revision compared to no upward in the same time period.

This has had a negative impact on the consensus estimate though as the current quarter consensus estimate has decreased by 6.2% in the past two months, while the current year estimate has declined by 3.9%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

The Price of CAT Stock and Consensus Estimates for CAT

Caterpillar Inc. Price and Consensus

Caterpillar Inc. price-consensus-chart | Caterpillar Inc. Quote

Despite the bearish analyst sentiments, CAT stock holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Thus, we are looking for an in-line performance from the company in the near term.

The Bottom Line on CAT Stock  

Caterpillar is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible line up of statistics on this front.

However, with a sluggish industry rank (among bottom 22% of more than 250 industries) and a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. In fact, over the past two years, the Zacks Manufacturing – Construction and Mining industry has clearly underperformed the market at large, as you can see below:

So, value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.

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