Caterpillar rises on gain in capital-goods orders

Caterpillar Inc., the largest maker of construction and mining equipment, rose to the highest in more than two years in New York after U.S. capital-equipment orders gained more than expected.

Caterpillar, based in Peoria with local operations in Aurora, increased $3.47, or 4.6 percent, to $79.73 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares earlier climbed as much as 4.8 percent to $79.93, the highest intraday price since June 23, 2008. Caterpillar dropped 38 percent in 2008 as sales plunged amid the recession.

Bookings for capital equipment excluding defense orders climbed 4.1 percent in August, the Commerce Department said today. That beat the median estimate of 72 economists in a Bloomberg survey that forecast a drop of 1 percent.

Credit Suisse AG analyst Jamie Cook today raised targets for the share price to $95 from $85 and per-share earnings "on increased sales strength in the U.S. and continued momentum in emerging markets."

Caterpillar will earn $3.95 a share this year, $5.55 in 2011 and $7 in 2012, Cook said in a report. That's up from her previous estimates of $3.50 this year, $4.75 next year and $6.25 in 2012, Cook said.

The company in July forecast 2010 earnings will be $3.15 to $3.85 a share. The average estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were for per-share profit of $3.73 this year, $5.15 next year and $6.69 in 2012.