Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Update

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 404,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Cabot Stock Performance

NYSE:CBT opened at $86.53 on Tuesday. Cabot has a 1 year low of $80.21 and a 1 year high of $117.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.90 and a 200-day moving average of $101.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.19.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 26.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Cabot by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 117,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,772,000 after acquiring an additional 18,021 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $531,000. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $7,352,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Cabot by 123.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 9,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 82,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 39,830 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.