Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Shares Sold by Peregrine Capital Management LLC

Peregrine Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,748 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,144 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned 0.11% of Cabot worth $5,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 103.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 113,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,699,000 after acquiring an additional 57,907 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth $654,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 40,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,688,000 after acquiring an additional 6,950 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cabot in the 3rd quarter worth $609,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 165.5% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Cabot Stock Performance

Shares of Cabot stock opened at $88.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $80.21 and a 12 month high of $117.46.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cabot Co. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Cabot’s payout ratio is 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.