- Today Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced that its board of directors voted to maintain the quarterly cash dividend of $1.03 per share of common stock
Today Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced that its board of directors voted to maintain the quarterly cash dividend of $1.03 per share of common stock — payable on August 20, 2020 — to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 20, 2020. As of the end of the first quarter of 2020, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported it had $7.1 billion in enterprise cash and had $20.5 billion in available liquidity. And the company is committed to delivering higher free cash flow through the cycles and to returning substantially all of its free cash flow to shareholders.
But due to economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) board of directors decided to postpone a decision on a dividend increase until later this year.
Every year since the company was formed in 1933, Caterpillar has paid a quarterly dividend. And Caterpillar has paid higher dividends to shareholders for 26 consecutive years. Last year, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) — which is known as being the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment — reported 2019 sales and revenues of $53.8 billion.
This year, Caterpillar is celebrating its 95 anniversary. And the company was formed in 1925 when the Holt Manufacturing Company and C. L. Best Tractor Co. merged. The company’s early product line consisted of 5 tractors. And the origin of Holt Manufacturing Company goes back to the 1800s when Benjamin Holt built his first combined harvester in Stockton, California back in 1886. Six years later in 1892, The Holt Manufacturing Company was incorporated.
