PEORIA, Ill., Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of
Directors of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) voted today to maintain
the quarterly cash dividend of seventy
cents ($0.70) per share of
common stock, payable February 20,
2015, to stockholders of record at the close of business on
January 20, 2015.
"After reporting third-quarter profit improvement, strong cash
flow for the first nine months of the year and continued balance
sheet strength, I am pleased to announce we are maintaining
Caterpillar's dividend," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO
Doug Oberhelman. "For the full year,
the $1.6 billion of dividends paid
and $4.2 billion of stock repurchases
make 2014 a record year for return of capital – and clearly
demonstrate our commitment to deliver superior returns to
stockholders."
Caterpillar has paid higher dividends to its stockholders for 21
consecutive years, and since 1998, the company's cash dividend has
more than quadrupled. 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 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 and potential resulting
increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on 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; (ix) an increase in
delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's
customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing,
all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their
impact on 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 impact of the highly
competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and
pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits
from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash
flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a
failure to 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, and in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on
August 1, 2014, for the quarter ended
June 30, 2014.
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SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.