Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Would Caterpillar be a good long term buy? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Caterpillar Inc., $103.89, symbol CAT on New York (Shares outstanding: 666.0 million; Market cap: $69.2 billion; www.cat.com), is the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment, including tractors, scrapers, graders, compactors, loaders and pipe layers. Caterpillar also makes lift trucks and diesel and turbine engines. The company gets 70% of its sales from outside the U.S. Its clients are mainly in the mining, logging, farming, construction and oil and gas industries. The company sells its machines through a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar also provides dealers and customers with equipment financing and insurance. In July 2011, Caterpillar acquired Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International. Bucyrus makes equipment that is used for mining and in the development of the oil sands. Caterpillar will rebrand all of Bucyrus’ equipment under the Caterpillar name. This purchase made Caterpillar the world’s largest mining machinery supplier. The company paid $7.4 billion in cash for Bucyrus. If you include $1.6 billion of Bucyrus’ debt, the total purchase price was $9.0 billion. Caterpillar later sold Bucyrus’…