Caterpillar boosts dividend 8% to $1.41, buyback by $20B to $21.8B

Caterpillar said its board voted to raise the quarterly dividend by 11c, an 8% increase, to $1.41 per share of common stock, payable August 20, to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 22. The board also added $20B to its current share repurchase authorization, which was launched in 2022 with no expiration date. With the new authorization, Caterpillar may repurchase up to $21.8B of its common stock. Caterpillar said it expects to continue to return substantially all Machinery, Energy & Transportation free cash flow to shareholders over time through dividends and share repurchases. “We continue to generate robust ME&T free cash flow through the execution of our enterprise strategy for long-term profitable growth,” said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. “Our strong financial performance supports increasing our quarterly dividend and share repurchase authorization, which aligns with our commitment to return substantially all ME&T free cash flow to shareholders over time.”