Franklin Resources Inc. Takes $654,000 Position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)

Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Cabot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Cabot by 53.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cabot by 197.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 564 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cabot

In related news, CAO Lisa M. Dumont sold 865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.74, for a total transaction of $96,655.10. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,571.08. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeff Ji Zhu sold 14,566 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,865,099.25. The trade was a 17.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,190 shares of company stock worth $5,751,534. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Cabot Price Performance

Cabot stock opened at $90.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.97. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $70.63 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cabot Co. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Cabot’s payout ratio is presently 25.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cabot from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Cabot from $103.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.