Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) Short Interest Update

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the January 31st total of 2,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 409,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.7 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Cabot Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CBT traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.52. 227,328 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,502. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.00. Cabot has a twelve month low of $79.57 and a twelve month high of $117.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.35.

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Cabot will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cabot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 3rd that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cabot

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cabot in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cabot by 197.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cabot by 22.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cabot by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cabot by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBT shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Cabot from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cabot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

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.