CAT vs CMI vs URI Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Cummins and United Rentals Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$686.82 -15.5% 1M +32.0% 1Y
Market cap
$318.29B
P/E
29.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
CMI Cummins Inc
$517.26 -1.5% 1M +23.8% 1Y
Market cap
$71.88B
P/E
26.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.71B
Div. yield
–
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,100.14 +6.5% 1M +20.3% 1Y
Market cap
$69.69B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Caterpillar leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Caterpillar 5, Cummins 4, United Rentals 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATCMIURILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $318.29B $71.88B $69.69B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 26.5x 24.4x URI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 16.5x 20.7x CMI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +2.9% +9.4% CAT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 7.8% 16.3% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 13.6% 14.0% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x 2.3x CMI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.0% +23.8% +20.3% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +27.9%/yr +16.5%/yr +24.5%/yr CAT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 37.1% 42.1% CMI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 59/100 58/100 CMI

Percentile Scorecard

CATCMIURI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCATCMIURI
Valuation 22 #159 of 203 51 #101 of 203 29 #33 of 46
Growth 68 #61 of 188 54 #88 of 188 90 #5 of 39
Profitability 91 #17 of 187 70 #56 of 187 92 #4 of 40
Financial Health 16 #186 of 222 50 #111 of 222 17 #41 of 49
Shareholder Returns 53 #72 of 153 71 #45 of 153 61 #13 of 32
Overall 50 59 58
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CMI ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCATCMIURISPY
1 month -15.5%-1.5%+6.5% -1.0%
3 months -22.7%-22.1%-3.7% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%-21.7%+12.9% +6.4%
Year to date +19.9%+1.3%+35.9% +11.4%
1 year +32.0%+23.8%+20.3% +13.1%
3 years +175.2%+136.0%+170.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +40.2%+33.2%+39.4% +21.5%
5 years +242.3%+114.9%+198.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +27.9%+16.5%+24.5% +10.9%
10 years +695.6%+308.4%+1,289.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +23.0%+15.1%+30.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCATCMIURISPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%37.1%42.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%37.8%38.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.831.621.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.790.640.48 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-30.8%-40.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.5%-28.9%-5.6% -2.5%
52-week high $1,064.90$727.59$1,165.29 $779.14
52-week low $520.50$414.30$710.47 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCATCMIURI
P/E now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 25.9x 26.3xmedian 25.9x 23.9xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.9x 2.1xmedian 1.9x 3.9xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 13.7x 14.9xmedian 13.7x 13.1xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 21.1x 21.1xmedian 21.1x 76.5xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 2.3x 5.1xmedian 2.3x 7.0xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.19 8.19median 1.19 2.51median 2.37

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCATCMIURI
Revenue $74.73B $34.71B $17.50B
Gross profit $25.66B $8.79B $6.84B
Operating income $13.09B $3.89B $4.47B
Net income $10.84B $2.83B $2.86B
Free cash flow $8.99B $3.37B $892.00M
R&D $2.27B $1.44B –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $19.60 $45.89
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $3.18B $153.00M
Total debt $173.08B $29.22B $14.67B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 138.50M 62.26M
Enterprise value $289.99B $67.96B $68.81B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCATCMIURI
P/E 29.2x 26.3x 23.9x
P/FCF 35.1x 21.1x 76.5x
P/Operating cash flow 23.3x 15.3x 11.0x
P/S 4.2x 2.1x 3.9x
P/B 16.3x 5.1x 7.0x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 6.1x 7.4x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 14.9x 13.1x
EV/EBIT 27.1x 19.2x 18.5x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 2.2x 4.7x
EV/FCF 39.4x 22.2x 92.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.1x 16.1x 13.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 8.19 2.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATCMIURI
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 2.9% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 2.5% 8.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 1.7% 10.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 4.8% 6.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% -6.0% 11.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 4.1% 5.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% -7.8% 12.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 2.9% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% -7.7% 16.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 3.2% 9.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 63.4% 24.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 28.8% 10.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 103.8% 98.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 45.3% 83.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATCMIURI
Gross margin 34.3% 25.3% 39.1%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 14.4% 36.1%
Operating margin 17.5% 11.2% 25.5%
Pretax margin 18.6% 11.1% 21.8%
Net margin 14.5% 7.8% 16.3%
FCF margin 12.0% 9.7% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 13.4% 35.4%
Return on equity 57.0% 20.7% 30.2%
Return on assets 10.9% 8.1% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 13.6% 14.0%
Return on capital employed 22.1% 16.0% 16.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.0x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.6x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATCMIURI
Debt / assets 44.0% 20.6% 44.7%
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.5x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 0.7x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 5.0x 2.2x 16.4x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 61.0% 70.4%
Equity / assets 18.9% 39.0% 29.6%
Interest coverage 6.8x 12.1x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.0x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 4.55 4.49 3.47

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATCMIURI
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.6% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 0.7% 2.7%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 2.2% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCATCMIURI
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 16.5xFY2026 20.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $31.40FY2026 $53.03FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +31.9%FY2026 +26.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +14.7% +4.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $35.36BFY2026 $18.40BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +5.0%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +11.2% +1.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATCMIURI
Held by institutions 72.3% 85.4% 95.9%
Institutions holding 4,055 2,105 1,586
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +1.0% +4.7%
Institutions buying 1,886 1,048 803
Institutions selling 1,595 728 537
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.44 1.50

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CATCMIURI
CAT 1.00 0.78 0.38
CMI 0.78 1.00 0.39
URI 0.38 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, CMI and URI?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $318.29B, Cummins (CMI) $71.88B, United Rentals (URI) $69.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, CMI and URI?

United Rentals (URI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 29.4x, Cummins (CMI) 26.5x, United Rentals (URI) 24.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cummins (CMI) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 26.6x, Cummins (CMI) 16.5x, United Rentals (URI) 20.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caterpillar (CAT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Cummins (CMI) +2.9%, United Rentals (URI) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Cummins (CMI) 7.8%, United Rentals (URI) 16.3%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Cummins (CMI) 13.6%, United Rentals (URI) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +32.0%, Cummins (CMI) +23.8%, United Rentals (URI) +20.3%. Over five years, Caterpillar (CAT) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +27.9%/yr, Cummins (CMI) +16.5%/yr, United Rentals (URI) +24.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%, Cummins (CMI) 0.00%, United Rentals (URI) 0.00%. Cummins (CMI) and United Rentals (URI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cummins (CMI) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.4%, Cummins (CMI) 37.1%, United Rentals (URI) 42.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, CMI and URI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Caterpillar (CAT) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.