Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Reaches New 12-Month High at $107.92

Shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $107.92 and last traded at $107.68, with a volume of 18456 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $105.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cabot from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cabot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cabot currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.75.

Cabot Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.27. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.20. Cabot had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 26.99%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Cabot’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.77%.

Insider Activity at Cabot

In related news, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total transaction of $2,322,512.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,814 shares in the company, valued at $5,968,839.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 5,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.58, for a total value of $548,865.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,688 shares in the company, valued at $6,204,579.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erica Mclaughlin sold 23,274 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.79, for a total transaction of $2,322,512.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,968,839.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,939 shares of company stock worth $7,308,812 over the last 90 days. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cabot by 143.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 60.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cabot during the second quarter worth $49,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Cabot during the second quarter worth $58,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cabot during the second quarter worth $64,000. 93.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cabot

Cabot Corporation operates as a specialty chemicals and performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. It offers reinforcing carbons that are used in tires as a rubber reinforcing agent and performance additive, as well as in industrial products, such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles, and molded goods; and engineered elastomer composites solutions.