Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Update

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 2,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 371,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of CBT stock opened at $94.97 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. Cabot has a 12 month low of $70.63 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cabot will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Cabot’s payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho raised their price target on Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.00.

Insider Transactions at Cabot

In other Cabot news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.25, for a total transaction of $1,649,599.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,865,099.25. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new position in Cabot during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Cabot by 60.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Cabot by 53.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cabot by 197.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cabot by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. 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.