Cabot (NYSE:CBT) Shares Up 4.4% – Here’s Why

Cabot Co. (NYSE:CBT)’s share price traded up 4.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $88.82 and last traded at $88.64. 136,472 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 418,608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cabot from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cabot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cabot currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Cabot Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.89.

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

Cabot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Cabot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.84%.

Cabot announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CBT. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cabot by 22.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cabot by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cabot by 0.3% during the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,943,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cabot by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.18% of the company’s stock.

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.