PEORIA, Ill., April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of
Directors of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) voted today to maintain
the quarterly cash dividend of sixty
cents ($0.60) per share of
common stock, payable May 20, 2014,
to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 21, 2014.
"I am pleased to announce we are maintaining Caterpillar's
dividend. Our global team's 2013 operational performance delivered
record cash flow and resulted in the strongest balance sheet in
more than 25 years. Our priorities for uses of cash and our
commitment to deliver superior returns to stockholders through the
cycles remain unchanged. This dividend, along with the largest
quarterly stock repurchase of $1.7
billion completed in March, demonstrates this commitment,"
said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug
Oberhelman.
Caterpillar has paid higher dividends to its stockholders for 20
consecutive years, and since 1998, the company's cash dividend has
more than tripled. Including the announcement today, Caterpillar
has paid a cash dividend every year since the company was formed
and has paid a quarterly dividend since 1933.
About Caterpillar:
For nearly 90 years, Caterpillar
Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving
positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar
to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource
assets. With 2013 sales and revenues of $55.656 billion, Caterpillar is the world's
leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel
and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and
diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates
through its three product segments—Resource Industries,
Construction Industries and Energy & Transportation—and also
provides financing and related services through its Financial
Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To
connect with us on social media, visit
caterpillar.com/social-media.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this
press release relate to future events and expectations and are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe,"
"estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate,"
"plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar
words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend
descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance,
and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global
economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we
serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and
infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes,
component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products
or significant shortages of component products;
(iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets
limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our
customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic
risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the
countries in which we operate; (vi) failure to maintain our
credit ratings could increase our cost of borrowing and adversely
affect our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and
access to capital markets; (vii) our Financial Products
segment's risks associated with the financial services industry;
(viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions
could adversely affect Cat Financial's and our earnings and /or
cash flow; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or
net losses of Cat Financials customers could adversely affect its
results; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) we may not realize all of the anticipated
benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures, or
these benefits may take longer to realize than expected;
(xii) international trade policies may impact demand for our
products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to
develop, produce and market quality products that meet our
customers' needs; (xiv) the highly competitive environment in
which we operate could adversely affect our sales and pricing; (xv)
we may not realize all of the anticipated benefits from a number of
initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow
and to reduce costs; (xvi) we could incur additional restructuring
charges and may not realize anticipated savings or benefits from
past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management
decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM
customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and
regulation; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or
anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax
expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations;
(xxii) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial
covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations;
(xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues;
(xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or
investigations; (xxvi) compliance requirements imposed if
additional carbon emissions legislation and/or regulations are
adopted; (xxvii) changes in accounting standards;
(xxviii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxix) adverse
effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and
(xxx) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A.
Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on
February 18, 2014, for the year ended December 31,
2013.
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.