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.