The board of directors of Caterpillar voted this week 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.
Caterpillar ended the first quarter of 2020 with $7.1 billion in enterprise cash and had $20.5 billion in available liquidity as of April 2020. Caterpillar is committed to delivering higher free cash flow through the cycles and to returning substantially all of its free cash flow to shareholders. However, given the economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors has postponed any decision on a dividend increase until later this year.
Caterpillar has paid a cash dividend every year since the company was formed and has paid a quarterly dividend since 1933. Caterpillar has paid higher dividends to shareholders for 26 consecutive years and is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat Index.
