Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Cabot were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Cabot by 2.1% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cabot by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Cabot by 53.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Cabot by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CBT. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. This trade represents a 17.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.23, for a total value of $4,005,279.57. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,190 shares of company stock valued at $5,751,534 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:CBT opened at $88.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.28. Cabot Co. has a one year low of $70.63 and a one year high of $117.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Cabot’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cabot Co. will post 7.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.52%.

Cabot declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Company Profile

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.