Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Stake Lowered by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,348,614 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 140,463 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 8.02% of Cabot worth $397,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Cabot by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,323,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $120,835,000 after buying an additional 103,380 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cabot by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $143,504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,719 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Cabot by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 942,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $86,039,000 after purchasing an additional 53,090 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cabot by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 761,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,521,000 after purchasing an additional 135,119 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Cabot by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 710,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,886,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CBT. Mizuho cut their price target on Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cabot presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.00.

Cabot Price Performance

NYSE CBT opened at $84.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Cabot Co. has a 12 month low of $79.57 and a 12 month high of $117.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.86.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.02. Cabot had a return on equity of 26.79% and a net margin of 10.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cabot Co. 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 repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cabot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.84%.

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.