Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,570,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the October 15th total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 363,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Cabot Trading Down 0.1 %

Cabot stock opened at $108.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.38. Cabot has a 52 week low of $70.63 and a 52 week high of $117.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.60% and a net margin of 9.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In other Cabot news, EVP Hobart Kalkstein sold 34,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,833,749.21. This trade represents a 40.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total value of $96,655.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,571.08. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,398 shares of company stock valued at $10,188,968. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cabot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Cabot by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,434 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Cabot by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 18,209 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,679,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Cabot by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in Cabot by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Cabot from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.