PEORIA, IL – The Board of Directors of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today declared a quarterly cash dividend of forty-two ($0.42) cents per share of common stock, payable February 20, 2009, to stockholders of record at the close of business January 20, 2009.
“I am pleased Caterpillar continues to reward stockholders with dividend returns particularly in light of the very difficult global economic circumstances facing many of our customers and uncertainty in the credit and financial markets,” said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens.
The $0.42 dividend maintains the dividend rate from the previous quarter and is 17 percent higher than the dividend paid one year ago. Including the announcement today, Caterpillar’s cash dividend has nearly tripled since 1998….more at Cat.com