CAT vs HWM vs TEX Stock Comparison

Caterpillar, Howmet Aerospace and Terex Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$691.78 -15.8% 1M +32.3% 1Y
Market cap
$318.01B
P/E
29.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.91%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$194.35 -16.4% 1M -2.1% 1Y
Market cap
$77.74B
P/E
41.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.12B
Div. yield
0.26%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
6 wins
TEX Terex Corp
$51.01 -11.0% 1M -9.5% 1Y
Market cap
$5.83B
P/E
38.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.68B
Div. yield
1.33%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Howmet Aerospace leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Howmet Aerospace 6, Caterpillar 3, Terex 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCATHWMTEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $318.01B $77.74B $5.83B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 41.6x 38.9x CAT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.8x 37.4x 9.7x TEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +18.4% +18.1% +29.2% TEX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 20.5% 2.2% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 19.4% 3.8% HWM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.4x 3.7x HWM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.91% 0.26% 1.33% TEX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.3% -2.1% -9.5% CAT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.7%/yr +46.0%/yr +3.1%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 35.2% 49.0% HWM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 74/100 49/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

CATHWMTEX

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

AxisCATHWMTEX
Valuation 22 #159 of 203 41 #59 of 100 76 #49 of 203
Growth 68 #60 of 187 91 #10 of 97 43 #108 of 187
Profitability 92 #16 of 185 98 #3 of 96 33 #124 of 185
Financial Health 17 #183 of 219 49 #54 of 105 27 #161 of 219
Shareholder Returns 56 #68 of 153 89 #8 of 64 65 #55 of 153
Overall 51 74 49
  • CAT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HWM ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • TEX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCATHWMTEXSPY
1 month -15.8%-16.4%-11.0% -0.8%
3 months -20.8%-32.5%-26.1% +3.5%
6 months -16.5%-19.6%-18.6% +7.0%
Year to date +20.8%-5.2%-4.4% +12.2%
1 year +32.3%-2.1%-9.5% +13.0%
3 years +190.0%+351.0%+16.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +42.6%+65.3%+5.2% +23.1%
5 years +252.7%+561.5%+16.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year +28.7%+46.0%+3.1% +11.0%
10 years +722.3%—+116.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +23.5%—+8.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCATHWMTEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%35.2%49.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%36.5%48.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.851.101.90 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.80-0.06-0.19 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.5%-36.5%-51.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -35.0%-33.6%-31.6% -1.8%
52-week high $1,064.90$292.71$74.58 $779.14
52-week low $524.47$185.88$41.78 $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.

MultipleCATHWMTEX
P/E now vs peer median 29.4xmedian 26.0x 41.6xmedian 26.8x 38.9xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 1.9x 8.5xmedian 2.9x 0.9xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.0xmedian 14.0x 29.2xmedian 15.2x 13.0xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 35.4xmedian 21.4x 43.4xmedian 25.5x 17.2xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 16.4xmedian 2.2x 13.6xmedian 2.5x 1.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.25median 1.26 0.77median 0.94 -0.93median 1.26

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 monthsCATHWMTEX
Revenue $74.73B $9.12B $6.68B
Gross profit $25.66B $3.29B $1.18B
Operating income $13.09B $2.50B $382.00M
Net income $10.84B $1.87B $149.00M
Free cash flow $8.99B $1.79B $339.00M
R&D $2.27B $37.00M –
EPS (diluted) $23.45 $4.65 $1.30
Cash & equivalents $6.71B $563.00M $407.00M
Total debt $45.15B $4.50B $2.69B
Shares (diluted) 462.50M 402.00M 114.20M
Enterprise value $289.71B $73.34B $3.75B

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
MetricCATHWMTEX
P/E 29.4x 41.6x 38.9x
P/FCF 35.4x 43.4x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 23.4x 35.0x 12.8x
P/S 4.3x 8.5x 0.9x
P/B 16.4x 13.6x 1.2x
P/Tangible book 16.8x 16.0x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 23.0x 29.2x 13.0x
EV/EBIT 27.2x 32.7x 21.2x
EV/Revenue 4.8x 9.0x 1.2x
EV/FCF 39.6x 45.6x 23.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.3x 36.8x 17.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.25 0.77 -0.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCATHWMTEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 18.4% 18.1% 29.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 13.7% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 30.2% 18.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 25.3% 2.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.7% 32.6% 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 34.8% -13.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.9% 33.9% -16.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 52.1% -30.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.1% 35.4% -52.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 54.1% -41.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 19.3% 56.1% 21.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 42.2% 7.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.2% 75.9% 43.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 45.6% 8.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCATHWMTEX
Gross margin 34.3% 36.0% 17.7%
EBITDA margin 20.7% 30.7% 9.3%
Operating margin 17.5% 27.4% 5.7%
Pretax margin 18.6% 25.0% 2.8%
Net margin 14.5% 20.5% 2.2%
FCF margin 12.0% 19.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 24.4% 6.8%
Return on equity 57.0% 33.3% 3.0%
Return on assets 10.9% 14.2% 1.4%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 19.4% 3.8%
Return on capital employed 22.1% 23.0% 4.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.2x 3.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCATHWMTEX
Debt / assets 44.0% 34.0% 26.0%
Debt / equity 2.3x 0.8x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.4x 3.7x
Debt / FCF 5.0x 2.5x 7.9x
Liabilities / assets 81.1% 56.7% 52.4%
Equity / assets 18.9% 43.3% 47.6%
Interest coverage 6.8x – 2.0x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.57 8.22 1.88

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCATHWMTEX
Dividend yield 0.9% 0.3% 1.3%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 1.3% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 1.5% 1.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.9% 10.4% 41.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% 10.9% 18.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.2% 30.0% 37.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 47.3% 17.4%

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.

ConsensusCATHWMTEX
Forward P/E 26.8xFY2026 37.4xFY2026 9.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $25.79FY2026 $5.19FY2026 $5.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.3%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +31.4% +31.2% +9.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $84.12BFY2026 $10.37BFY2026 $8.62BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +24.5%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026 +59.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% +15.9% +8.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCATHWMTEX
Held by institutions 72.3% 91.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 4,055 1,600 482
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +0.7% +5.5%
Institutions buying 1,886 907 240
Institutions selling 1,595 484 164
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.87 1.46

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.

CATHWMTEX
CAT 1.00 0.43 0.58
HWM 0.43 1.00 0.31
TEX 0.58 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAT, HWM and TEX?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caterpillar (CAT) $318.01B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $77.74B, Terex (TEX) $5.83B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAT, HWM and TEX?

Caterpillar (CAT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caterpillar (CAT) 29.4x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 41.6x, Terex (TEX) 38.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Terex (TEX) is cheapest (Caterpillar (CAT) 26.8x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 37.4x, Terex (TEX) 9.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Terex (TEX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +18.1%, Terex (TEX) +29.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 20.5%, Terex (TEX) 2.2%). On return on invested capital, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads (Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 19.4%, Terex (TEX) 3.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caterpillar (CAT) returned the most: Caterpillar (CAT) +32.3%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) -2.1%, Terex (TEX) -9.5%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (Caterpillar (CAT) +28.7%/yr, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +46.0%/yr, Terex (TEX) +3.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Terex (TEX) has the highest dividend yield: Caterpillar (CAT) 0.91%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 0.26%, Terex (TEX) 1.33%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has been the steadiest (Caterpillar (CAT) 40.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 35.2%, Terex (TEX) 49.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAT, HWM and TEX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads on 6. 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.