What are the major cyclical equipment companies in 13Fs?

Six major US-listed cyclical equipment manufacturers: Caterpillar (CAT) — construction and mining; Deere & Company (DE) — agricultural plus construction and forestry; Illinois Tool Works (ITW) — diversified industrial; Nucor (NUE) — US steel; Cummins (CMI) — diesel engines and power generation; Emerson Electric (EMR) — automation and process management. Each serves different cyclical-industrial sub-segments with different cycle-phase timing.

Why does State Farm hold 8.13% in Caterpillar?

State Farm Mutual is a P&C insurance company. Its surplus-capital equity allocation prioritizes durable cash flow, dividend yield, and balance-sheet quality. Caterpillar's 1.7% dividend yield, A-grade credit, cyclical-inflation-hedge characteristics, and multi-decade dividend growth fit the framework. Combined with State Farm's 4.31% ITW and 3.23% NUE positions, the P&C insurance balance sheet runs concentrated cyclical-industrial exposure aligned with insurance-mandate criteria.

How are cyclical equipment cycles structured?

Cyclical industrial equipment cycles span 5-7 years through four phases: (1) Recovery — equipment orders accelerate from trough; (2) Peak — orders at cyclical highs, operating margins expand; (3) Slowdown — orders decelerate, inventory builds, pricing pressure emerges; (4) Trough — orders at cycle lows, restructuring announcements emerge. Each company's revenue mix and end-market exposure determines cycle-phase positioning timing — agricultural-cycle peaks differ from construction-cycle peaks.

Which institutional managers favor cyclical equipment?

Three primary categories: (1) P&C insurance balance sheets — State Farm Mutual concentrates CAT (8.13%), ITW (4.31%), NUE (3.23%) for surplus-capital dividend-and-quality allocation; (2) Capital Group complex — Capital World, Capital Research hold DE and CMI at moderate active overweights; (3) Value-discipline concentrated managers — Dodge & Cox, Fisher Asset Management, Abrams Capital sometimes build concentrated positions during cycle-trough windows.

How do tariffs affect cyclical equipment institutional positioning?

Tariff escalation supports US-domiciled steel (Nucor benefits from import tariffs on foreign steel) and aluminum producers. Trade-deal de-escalation affects agricultural-equipment export markets (Deere benefits from continued global trade for grain exports). Tariff-and-trade policy is a structural variable that institutional managers weigh against cyclical-cycle positioning. Watch trade-policy announcements for impact on individual cyclical-equipment names.

What signals cyclical equipment cycle-phase changes?

Four signals: (1) quarterly equipment order book disclosures at major manufacturers showing accelerating or decelerating trends; (2) inventory-build patterns at dealer networks; (3) capital-return guidance changes — peak-cycle managers expand buybacks, slowdown-cycle managers preserve cash; (4) P&C insurance balance sheet 13F changes — State Farm, Berkshire, Northwestern Mutual position shifts often lead broader institutional repositioning.

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Cyclical Equipment 13Fs: DE, CAT, ITW, NUE Reading

Deere, Caterpillar, Illinois Tool Works, and Nucor sit at the center of US industrial-cycle 13F positioning. State Farm Mutual holds CAT at 8.13% portfolio. Capital World holds DE at 0.94%. Clearbridge holds WMB at 1.48%. Here's the framework for reading cyclical-equipment institutional positioning.

By Sarah Mitchell, Education Editor

PublishedMay 15, 2026UpdatedMay 15, 2026

Cyclical industrial equipment manufacturers — agricultural, construction, materials handling, machine tools — sit at the center of US industrial-cycle institutional positioning. Caterpillar (CAT), Deere & Company (DE), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Nucor (NUE), Cummins (CMI), and Emerson Electric (EMR) capture different segments of cyclical-industrial demand. State Farm Mutual holds CAT at 8.13% portfolio. Capital World holds Deere at 0.94%. Clearbridge holds Williams Companies natural-gas-pipeline infrastructure at 1.48%. State Farm holds Nucor at 3.23% portfolio (60x index overweight). Reading cyclical-equipment 13F positioning requires understanding which institutional managers favor which cycle phase.

The cyclical industrial cycle phases

Cyclical industrial equipment cycles span 5-7 years through four phases:

Recovery phase. Equipment orders accelerate from cycle trough. Multiple expansion as institutional investors reposition.
Peak phase. Equipment orders at cyclical highs. Operating margins expand; capital-allocation guidance optimistic.
Slowdown phase. Equipment orders decelerate from peak. Inventory builds; pricing pressure emerges. Active managers begin trimming.
Trough phase. Equipment orders at cycle lows. Inventory cleared; operational restructuring announcements. Concentrated value managers add positions.

Each company's revenue mix and end-market exposure determines the cycle-phase positioning timing. Agricultural-cycle peaks differ from construction-cycle peaks differ from machine-tool peaks.

The major cyclical equipment names and 13F positioning

Caterpillar (CAT)

The world's largest construction-and-mining equipment manufacturer. State Farm Mutual holds CAT at 8.13% portfolio — the highest single-name concentration in any major P&C insurance balance sheet. The position reflects State Farm's dividend-and-quality-discipline philosophy combined with cyclical-industrial exposure. CAT serves construction, mining, energy, and power-generation markets.

Deere & Company (DE)

Dominant agricultural equipment manufacturer plus construction-and-forestry equipment franchise. Capital World Investors holds DE at 0.94% portfolio (3.1x index weight). The thesis emphasizes precision-agriculture technology platform plus service-revenue compounding.

Illinois Tool Works (ITW)

Diversified industrial manufacturer with 50+ years of dividend increases. State Farm Mutual holds ITW at 4.31% portfolio (21x index weight). ITW serves automotive, food-and-beverage, construction, polymers, and other industrial sub-segments.

Nucor (NUE)

Largest US steel producer through mini-mill technology. State Farm Mutual holds NUE at 3.23% portfolio (approximately 60x index overweight — the most concentrated single-name overweight in the State Farm book). NUE benefits from US infrastructure spending plus tariff-driven domestic-steel demand.

Cummins (CMI)

Diesel engine and power generation manufacturer. Strong AI-data-center exposure through standby generators plus traditional truck-engine franchise. Capital Group complex holds CMI at meaningful active overweights.

How institutional managers position around cyclical equipment

Three patterns:

Pattern 1: P&C insurance balance sheet concentration

State Farm Mutual at CAT 8.13% + ITW 4.31% + NUE 3.23% represents the textbook P&C-insurance-balance-sheet allocation to cyclical industrials. The thesis: investment-grade credit ratings + multi-decade dividend growth + cyclical inflation hedge fits insurance surplus-capital framework.

Pattern 2: Capital Group complex distributed exposure

Capital World, Capital Research, and Capital International hold DE, CMI, and other cyclical-equipment names at moderate active overweights distributed across the cohort.

Pattern 3: Value-discipline concentrated bets

Concentrated value managers (Dodge & Cox, Fisher Asset Management, Abrams Capital) sometimes build concentrated positions in cyclical-equipment names during cycle-trough windows.

How to read cyclical equipment 13F positioning

Three rules:

Rule 1: Identify the current cycle phase

Different cyclical-equipment names are at different cycle phases at any given time. Agricultural equipment may be recovering while construction equipment is peaking. Read each name's revenue mix and end-market exposure to determine phase positioning.

Rule 2: Cross-check P&C insurance balance sheets

State Farm Mutual, Berkshire Hathaway, Northwestern Mutual, Liberty Mutual P&C surplus-capital positions reveal the institutional balance-sheet preference for specific cyclical-equipment names through cycle phases.

Rule 3: Watch the dividend-yield-and-coverage signalCyclical-equipment names with sustainable dividend growth (CAT, ITW, EMR, NUE) attract P&C insurance balance sheet allocation. Names without dividend discipline (some smaller-cap cyclical manufacturers) attract different active-manager positioning.

What to track

Caterpillar, Deere, Illinois Tool Works quarterly earnings. Order book trajectory, operating-ratio metrics, and capital-return guidance.
State Farm Mutual + Berkshire + Northwestern Mutual P&C 13F changes. The largest P&C-insurance-balance-sheet institutional holders signal cyclical-equipment cycle-phase positioning.
US infrastructure spending trajectory. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law deployment, CHIPS Act manufacturing capex, and state-level infrastructure projects drive cyclical-equipment demand.
Tariff-and-trade policy. Tariff escalation supports US-domiciled steel (NUE) and aluminum producers; trade-deal de-escalation affects agricultural-equipment export markets.

For real-time tracking of cyclical equipment 13F activity, see the institutional signals feed. For related reading techniques on P&C insurance balance-sheet allocation, see our P&C insurance 13F decoder.

Sarah MitchellEducation Editor

Investment Education Editor at 13F Insight. Breaks down complex institutional data into actionable insights for individual investors.