Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Please provide your comments on Cummins Inc. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Cummins Inc., $115.50, symbol CMI on New York (Shares outstanding: 189.8 million; Market cap: $22.1 billion; www.cummins.com), designs, makes, distributes and services diesel engines for trucks, buses and cars. It also makes engine parts and power-generation systems. The company serves customers in 160 countries through 550 company-owned and independent distributors and 5,000 dealers. It gets about 59% of its sales from outside the U.S. In the three months ended December 31, 2012, Cummins’s revenue fell 12.8%, to $4.29 billion from $4.92 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 21.9%, to $2.00 from $2.56. However, the latest earnings still beat the consensus estimate of $1.74. Cummins holds cash of $1.6 billion, or $8.42 a share. Its $689-million long-term debt is just 3.1% of its $22.1-billion market cap. The company’s near-term outlook is mixed: demand for heavy-duty truck engines remains weak in North America, although sales of bus and light-duty engines are strong. International mining orders have also slowed, as has demand…